Pakistan’s security forces have killed more than 71 militants across Balochistan over a 96-hour stretch, the military’s media wing said, in what officials are describing as one of the most intensive counter-terrorism pushes in the province in recent months, and one that has drawn direct praise from both the president and prime minister.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operations trace back to September 21, when security forces launched Operation Shaban in Ziarat and surrounding areas after acting on credible intelligence. Troops engaged militants and cleared several hideouts following intense exchanges of fire, with 33 militants killed in that initial phase and weapons, ammunition and explosives recovered from the cleared positions. The operation was then intensified over the following 72 hours, during which another 23 militants were killed, bringing the Shaban total to 56.

Two further, separate operations added to the overall figure. On September 25, an intelligence-based raid on a militant hideout in Nushki district killed 11 fighters described by the military as Indian-sponsored. The same day, a separate operation in Mand killed six militants affiliated with Fitna al-Hindustan, one of the group designations Pakistan’s military uses for networks it accuses India of backing. A substantial quantity of weapons and ammunition was recovered from that site as well. Taken together, the Shaban, Nushki and Mand operations brought the combined total to more than 71 militants killed within 96 hours, according to ISPR’s tally.

The military described the operations as a serious blow to what it called India-backed Afghan proxies operating in the province, a characterisation consistent with how Pakistani security officials have framed militant activity in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent years. ISPR said clearance operations in the Shaban area and its surroundings were continuing, and that the broader campaign, conducted under the government’s Azm-e-Istehkam counter-terrorism framework approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, would proceed with full resolve until the threat is fully eradicated.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif both issued statements commending the security forces, with Zardari describing the operations as a major achievement and saying they would continue until terrorism fuelled by what he called foreign patronage and support was completely eliminated. He also paid tribute to the sacrifices made by security personnel during the counter-terrorism campaign.

The scale of this latest operation places it among the larger tolls reported from a single sustained security push in recent years, comparable to an April 2025 clash in North Waziristan in which 71 militants and insurgents were killed over three days after security forces intercepted large groups attempting to cross from Afghanistan. That earlier episode, like this one, involved forces engaging infiltrators moving across the western border, underscoring a recurring pattern in how Pakistan’s security establishment has been confronting cross-border militancy since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The operation also lands at a moment of significant strain in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations more broadly, with cross-border tension having escalated sharply in recent weeks, including Pakistani strikes on targets inside Afghanistan following drone incursions and a deadly mosque bombing in Kohat. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have both seen a steady rise in reported militant activity along the western border in this period, and Sunday’s figures suggest the military is responding with a correspondingly heavier operational tempo rather than a more limited, reactive posture.

For residents of the areas where these operations have taken place, particularly Ziarat, Nushki and Mand, the immediate effect has been the clearing of specific hideouts that officials say posed a direct local threat. Whether the scale of this week’s operations marks a genuine turning point in the broader security situation, or simply the latest peak in a cycle of escalation and response that has defined much of the past year along Pakistan’s western frontier, is likely to become clearer only as the clearance operations that ISPR says are still ongoing run their course.

Compiled by the Weekly PK National Security Desk.