More than 120 people have been killed following a wave of coordinated suicide bombings and gun attacks across Pakistan’s restive southwestern province of Balochistan, according to the country’s military.
Security officials said the attacks left 33 people dead, including 18 civilians and 15 security personnel on Saturday, while responding forces killed at least 92 assailants.
Analysts described the violence as the deadliest single day for militants in the province in decades.
The attacks targeted civilians as well as high-security locations, including police stations, a prison and paramilitary facilities. Authorities said the scale and coordination of the assaults were unusual, even in a region long plagued by insurgency. Over the past 48 hours, at least 133 militants were reportedly killed across Balochistan.
Pakistan’s military and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accused India of backing the attackers, an allegation New Delhi has repeatedly denied and did not immediately respond to on this occasion.
The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the violence, which included suicide bombings, armed raids, robberies of banks, the torching of vehicles and attacks on police infrastructure. The group also released propaganda videos showing female fighters taking part in the operations.
Provincial officials said many of the attacks were foiled by security forces. The violence came a day after the military announced it had raided two militant hideouts in the region earlier in the week, killing 41 insurgents in separate clashes.
Balochistan’s chief minister said security forces were still pursuing fleeing militants and claimed hundreds of insurgents had been killed over the past year. Rail services from the province to other parts of the country were suspended after militants damaged rail tracks during the attacks.
The violence began almost simultaneously across several districts. In the provincial capital, Quetta, two police officers were killed in a grenade attack on a police vehicle, prompting authorities to declare an emergency at hospitals. In Mastung district, armed men stormed a prison and freed more than 30 inmates, while an attempted assault on a paramilitary headquarters in Nushki was repelled.
Other attacks were reported in Dalbandin, Balincha, Tump, Kharan, Pasni and Gwadar, where militants targeted security posts and attempted to abduct passengers traveling on highways. Most of these attempts were thwarted by security forces, officials said.
Security analysts said the sheer number of militants killed in a single day was unprecedented in the province. The violence highlights a renewed surge in attacks by Baloch separatist groups and allied militant organizations, amid long-standing tensions rooted in political grievances, security operations and demands for greater autonomy.
Balochistan has endured decades of insurgency by separatist groups seeking independence from Pakistan’s central government, making it one of the country’s most volatile regions.
