3 more terrorists killed as Operation Shaban continues in Balochistan: state media – Pakistan

Security forces killed another three terrorists during the ongoing Operation Shaban in Balochistan, following which the total number of terrorists killed in the operation reached 67, according to state broadcaster PTV News.

The operation is being jointly carried out by the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police following the terrorist attack in the Mangi Dam area, in which several cops were martyred on July 7.

PTV News reported that air and ground operations against Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — were ongoing.

The state broadcaster reported that the total number of terrorists killed during Operation Shahban and other intelligence-based operations carried out since July 5 in Balochistan had reached 105.

Security sources said on Friday that security forces, including the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and police, had been conducting a joint operation in Quetta district’s Shaban area since July 5 against terrorists involved in the killing of 27 police personnel during an attack on a police post at Mangi dam pumping station.

The terrorists had martyred nine police personnel during the attack and taken away 18 other policemen at gunpoint. Later, they killed the abducted police personnel, whose bodies were found in the Zarghoon Gar mountainous area.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the country’s civil and military leadership had taken a “mutual and singular decision” to end terrorism after multiple major terrorist incidents in Balochistan.

He made the remarks at a meeting of the Provincial Apex Committee on the National Action Plan in Quetta, with Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir also present.

Chairing the meeting, PM Shehbaz said, “One thing is decided: it is a mutual and singular decision of the civil and military leadership that we must end terrorism collectively.”

The meeting was held a day after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry shared during a press conference that at least 42 people — four civilians, 27 policemen and 11 security personnel — have lost their lives in terrorist attacks and subsequent operations in Balochistan since July 5.