AT LEAST 145 KILLED IN WAVE OF ATTACKS ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN PAKISTAN . (PHOTO).

 At least 145 killed in wave of attacks across southwestern Pakistan 

Security forces in Pakistan’s restive southwestern province of Balochistan killed more than 100 alleged militants during counterterrorism operations carried out over roughly 40 hours, government officials said Sunday, a day after coordinated suicide bombings and gun attacks left 33 people dead, most of them civilians. Authorities said the operations began early Saturday at multiple locations across the province and resulted in the deaths of 18 civilians — including five women and three children — along with 15 members of the security forces.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said in Quetta that police, military, and paramilitary units killed a total of 145 members of what the government refers to as “Fitna al-Hindustan,” a term used for the banned Baloch Liberation Army. Bugti said the figure marked the highest number of militants killed in such operations in decades and claimed some of the dead were Afghan nationals. He said the attackers had planned to seize hostages and storm government offices in Quetta’s high-security zone but were stopped before reaching the city center. Senior government official Hamza Shafqat joined Bugti in praising security forces for swiftly repelling the assaults and preventing further casualties.

The violence unfolded in a resource-rich region where Pakistan has been seeking to attract foreign investment, particularly in mining and mineral projects. Residents described widespread fear and chaos following a suicide bombing that killed several police officers, with armed men reportedly roaming the streets before security forces reasserted control. Bugti accused India and Afghanistan of backing the attackers and alleged that senior leaders of the Baloch Liberation Army were operating from Afghan territory, claims both countries deny. He said the group was responsible for storming the home of a laborer in the port city of Gwadar, where five women and three children were killed, and condemned the attack as a brutal assault on civilians.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained high, particularly since Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan last fall targeting what it described as militant hideouts. Bugti said Afghanistan’s Taliban had pledged under the 2020 Doha agreement not to allow their territory to be used for attacks against other countries, but claimed that pledge was not being upheld. The Baloch Liberation Army, which has been banned in Pakistan, has carried out repeated attacks against security forces, infrastructure projects and Chinese interests in the province. Officials say the group has ties to the Pakistani Taliban, which is allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, as Balochistan continues to grapple with a long-running separatist insurgency rooted in demands for greater autonomy and control over local resources.