Intelligence-based operations in Balochistan have claimed the life of an army officer and resulted in the killing of four terrorists, the military’s media wing said on Monday. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that security forces are conducting a series of operations in the Shadi Kaur area of Pasni tehsil in Gwadar district and in Jattakabad in Kalat district, on the reported presence of multiple hideouts of Fitna al Hindustan.
Two Operations in Kalat and Gwadar
According to the ISPR statement, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the general area of Jattakabad in Kalat on October 18, during which four terrorists were killed. A large cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered, the statement said.
In a separate incident, security forces carried out a series of clearance operations in the general area of Shadi Kaur, Pasni, in Gwadar. The ISPR said that during one of these operations, the lead force component, which was commanded by 34-year-old Major Wajahat Waheed, a resident of Lahore, was struck by an improvised explosive device attack. Major Wajahat Waheed was martyred, the ISPR said. The statement did not specify how many other personnel, if any, were with the officer, and it did not give a date for the Gwadar incident.
Fitna al Hindustan and the State’s Position
The ISPR continues to use the label Fitna al Hindustan for militant groups in Balochistan. Dawn notes that the state has designated Balochistan-based groups under this name to highlight what it describes as India’s role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. The claims in the military statement are those of the ISPR, and the casualty figures and attributions were not independently confirmed in the reports reviewed for this article.
The ISPR said that sanitisation operations, which refer to the clearing of an area, would continue to eliminate any other terrorists found there. It added that the counterterrorism campaign under the Azm-e-Istehkam vision, as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, would proceed at full pace. Security forces and law enforcement agencies, it said, remain committed to eliminating the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.
A Run of Recent Operations
The latest intelligence-based operations in Balochistan follow a series of similar actions over the past week. A day earlier, security forces killed eight terrorists, whom the military described as India-sponsored, in operations in the Quetta, Nushki and Khuzdar districts. On the night of October 12 and 13, security forces busted a hideout and killed five terrorists in an operation in Washuk, according to the ISPR. State media also reported earlier this month that five terrorists were killed in Mastung district.
The provincial authorities have reported arrests as well. Balochistan government officials said days ago that six terrorists affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, two would-be female suicide bombers and two commanders of a banned organisation had been arrested during such operations across the province. They added that around 90 arrested terrorists were being held at a centre where investigations and legal proceedings were under way.
Data Point to a Worsening Security Picture
The operations come at a time when militant violence in the province has been rising. According to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), the number of terrorist attacks in Balochistan increased by seven per cent, from 83 in July to 89 in August. The report declared Balochistan the province most affected by terrorism in that period, and Dawn notes that the trend has prompted security forces to intensify counterterrorism operations in recent years.
The loss of Major Wajahat Waheed also illustrates the personal risk borne by officers who lead such operations from the front, as the use of improvised explosive devices against clearance teams has been a recurring feature of the conflict. In this regard, the statement from the ISPR frames the officer’s death as part of a sustained campaign rather than an isolated event.
Outlook
Whether the pace of intelligence-based operations in Balochistan can reduce the number of attacks will become clearer in the monthly figures that PICSS and other monitors publish. The August numbers show an increase, and the September data for the country as a whole, reported separately, recorded the highest monthly total of militant attacks in 12 years. For now, the military says that clearance operations in Kalat and Gwadar will continue, and that the campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam will not slacken.
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