Pakistan’s armed forces announced yesterday the successful conclusion of a week-long security campaign targeting separatists in Balochistan. The operation resulted in the elimination of 216 militants in focused offensives carried out throughout the troubled southwestern province.
Balochistan, the largest and least affluent province in Pakistan, was paralyzed on Saturday as the separatist group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) initiated a series of attacks on schools, banks, markets, and security installations in one of their most extensive operations to date.
According to military reports, 22 security personnel and 36 civilians lost their lives during the assaults. The BLA’s coordinated assaults in multiple locations ensued after the commencement of the army’s “intelligence-driven” Radd Al-Fitna 1 (countering chaos) operation, which was launched on January 29.
