Pakistan military says 42 killed in fighter attacks in Balochistan
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- Rebel fighters killed 18 police officers and 11 soldiers in separate Balochistan attacks since Monday, bringing the total death toll to 42, military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said at a televised news conference Wednesday.
- The 18 police officers were abducted Monday when dozens of fighters descended on a post guarding the Mangi dam project in Ziarat district; on Wednesday, fighters ambushed a vehicle on a Balochistan highway, killing the 11 soldiers.
- Security forces killed 54 fighters across several operations, with casualties also including four civilians, according to Chaudhry.
- Chaudhry warned fighters "we will chase you, we will hurt you," claiming "many Afghans" were behind the attacks and pledging to target terrorists, their facilitators, and anyone providing them bases.
- Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of harboring separatist groups — the banned Balochistan Liberation Army and the banned Pakistan Taliban (TTP), allied with Afghanistan's Taliban — charges Kabul denies.
- Islamabad has also accused rival India of backing the BLA without evidence; India denies it, and in January Pakistan killed 41 fighters it said had links to India.
- The attacks come amid tit-for-tat strikes with Afghanistan since October 2025, including Pakistan intercepting four drones launched by the Afghan Taliban into Balochistan earlier this month.
Why it matters: Pakistan is fighting a multi-front separatist insurgency in mineral-rich Balochistan, and the military is now openly blaming Afghan-linked fighters for a 42-person death toll across just three days — one of the deadliest spikes since October 2025 cross-border exchanges began. The Mangi dam post attack signals rebels can still hit high-value infrastructure despite operations that killed 54 fighters, while Islamabad is invoking both Afghanistan and India as enablers to justify escalation.
