QUETTA/KARACHI: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday blamed Baloch separatists and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for multiple militant attacks and other acts of violence in the southwestern Balochistan province in the last 24 hours in which over 50 people were killed, excluding insurgents.
Pakistan’s largest province of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan and is home to major China-led projects such as a strategic port and a gold and copper mine, has been the site of a decades-long separatist insurgency by ethnic Baloch militants, who say they are fighting what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s mineral and gas wealth by the federation at the center. The state denies the allegations, saying it is working for the uplift of the impoverished province through various development schemes.
The eruption of violence at multiple districts of the province on Sunday night poses a major challenge for the weak coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which is battling an economic crisis and political instability as well as a rise in militant violence by religiously motivated and separatist groups across the country. Balochistan is also currently in the grips of civil rights protests by young ethnic Baloch people, who are calling for an end to what they describe as a pattern of enforced disappearances and other human rights abuses by security forces, who deny the charge.
In the violence that began on Sunday evening, 23 passengers were taken off their vehicles in Musa Khel, a district in the northeast of Balochistan, and shot dead. In another attack, the Pakistan Army said it had killed 21 militants during a clearance operation in which 14 soldiers and police also died. Separately, 10 people, including five security forces personnel, were killed when militants stormed a paramilitary force station in Kalat, while militants also blew up a railway bridge in Bolan in Balochistan’s Kachhi district. Six as yet unidentified bullet-riddled bodies were also found near the bridge, with the circumstances of the killings unclear.
On Sunday, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups operating in Balochistan, said it had attacked a security forces’ camp in Bela area of the Lasbela district, claiming to have killed 68 “enemy personnel.”
“The TTP and many foreign elements are involved in these attacks. We will unmask them all,” Interior Minister Naqvi told reporters, saying militants operating from safe havens in neighboring Afghanistan were launching attacks in Pakistan, a charge denied by Kabul.
“We know who planned this and who is behind them. They thought carefully and conducted the attacks in a single day,” he said. “The entire leadership has decided that we will respond to them with full force.”
WIDESPREAD ASSAULT
In the first of many attacks on Sunday evening, a senior police official said passengers were taken off vehicles in Musa Khel and at least 23 were shot dead after they were identified as hailing from the Punjab province. Militants also burnt at least 35 trucks, buses and other vehicles.
“Twenty-three people were killed after armed men took them off from vehicles and goods trucks near Rara Sham, an area in Musa Khel,” Ayoub Achakzai, senior superintendent of police in the district, told Arab News on Monday morning.
The army’s media wing said soldiers and other law enforcement “immediately responded and successfully thwarted the evil design of terrorists,” killing 21 militants during a clearance operation.
“However, during the conduct of operations, fourteen brave sons of soil including ten Security Forces soldiers and four personnel of law enforcement agencies, having fought gallantly, made the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat [martyrdom],” the army said.
In a televised press conference, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said that “people were taken off buses and killed in front of their families.”
No one has claimed responsibility for the Musa Khel killings yet but in the past, separatists in Balochistan have often killed workers from the country’s eastern Punjab province, who they see as outsiders exploiting the province. Most of such previous killings have been blamed on the outlawed BLA and other groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad.
In another attack, SSP Dostain Khan Dashti said ten people, including five from security forces, were killed when unidentified gunmen stormed a station of the Balochistan Paramilitary Levies Force in the central district of Kalat.
“The firing by armed men has left one policeman, four Levies personnel, and five citizens dead,” Dashti said.
Separately, Pakistan Railways suspended train services between Quetta and Sibi on Monday after a key railway bridge near the Dozan area of Bolan was blown up in wee hours of Monday.
“Security forces have cordoned off the area and Pakistan Railways’ team has reached the site to assess the damages,” a Railways spokesman said.
“Quetta-Sibi highway is blocked for traffic after terrorists destroyed a railway bridge during early hours of Monday and the debris of the bridge fell on the highway,” Kachhi SSP Dost Muhammad Bugti told Arab News, without naming any group behind the assault.
Police in Bolan — a rugged, mountainous area of Kachhi district — said they had found six bullet-riddled bodies close to the destroyed bridge during the early hours of Monday. The circumstances of the killings were unclear and the bodies have yet to be identified.
ATTACK ON ARMY CAMP
On Sunday, the BLA said it had attacked an army camp in the Bela city of Balochistan’s Lasbela district, located around 515 kilometers from the provincial capital of Quetta.
A senior police officer in Bela confirmed the attack on the military camp.
“Security clearance operation is going on as we can still hear sounds of gunshots and explosions from the camp,” Bela police station in-charge Attaullah Jamoot told Arab News.
The army did not comment on the attack on the Bela camp in its statement, but said militants had attempted to conduct “numerous heinous activities” in Balochistan on the night of Aug. 25-26.
“These cowardly acts of terrorism were aimed at disrupting the peaceful environment and development of Balochistan by targeting mainly the innocent civilians, especially in Musa Khel, Kalat and Labela Districts. Resultantly, numerous innocent civilians embraced shahadat,” the army said.
Video clips widely shared on WhatsApp and X showed long queues of vehicles lined up on various sections of the key Quetta-Karachi highway in the Kalat and Mastung districts of the province.
The BLA said it had “taken full control of all major highways across Balochistan, blocking them completely.”
“The situation is not good in Khad Kocha,” Abdul Shakoor, a paramilitary Levies soldier, told Arab News about an area in the Masung district, some 67 kilometers from Quetta. “There are reports that armed persons have blocked the highway, and they have blown up the Pakistan-Iran railway track near Khad Kocha.”
Shakoor said there was no confirmation as yet of any casualties.
The state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster said “terrorists have carried out cowardly attacks at several places,” without specifying where the assaults took place.
“Security forces and law enforcement agencies responded effectively to these attacks, twelve terrorists have so far been killed and many others are injured,” the broadcaster said. “The operation will continue until the terrorists are eliminated.”
Balochistan CM Bugti said more intelligence-based operations would be launched to weed out militants, hinting at curtailing mobile data services to stop militant coordination.
“They launch attacks, film it and then share it on social media for propaganda,” he said.
Meanwhile, General Li Qiaoming, commander of China’s People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces, and Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir met on Monday, though a Pakistani military statement released after the meeting made no mention of the attacks.
The latest attacks coincide with the 18th anniversary of the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a prominent Baloch politician and tribal chief who was killed in a military operation on Aug. 26, 2006, sparking deadly protests and inflaming the insurgency in Balochistan.
The impoverished province has seen an uptick in violence in the last few weeks, with separatist groups intensifying attacks ahead of and during Independence Day celebrations earlier this month, in which at least four people were killed.
Pakistan says Baloch separatists, local Taliban group behind attacks killing over 50 in southwest
https://arab.news/mzany
Pakistan says Baloch separatists, local Taliban group behind attacks killing over 50 in southwest
- Militants launched multiple attacks across Balochistan, with both security forces and insurgents claiming dozens of killings
- Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti says more intelligence-based operations would be launched to weed out militants
Pakistan’s stock exchange halts trading for an hour, exchange notification shows
- A 5 percent increase in KSE-30 index from previous day’s close led to market halt as per stock market regulations
- Development takes place amid Saturday’s ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan after clashes
Pakistan’s stock exchange halted trading on Monday for an hour, according to an exchange notification, after the benchmark KSE-100 share index rose 8.84 percent in early trade.
A 5 percent increase in the KSE-30 index from the previous trading day’s close led to a market halt as per stock market regulations. All equity and equity based markets have been suspended, as per the notification.
Markets will reopen at 10:42 a.m. local time (0542 GMT).
Saturday’s ceasefire in the Himalayan region, announced by US President Donald Trump, followed four days of intense firing and diplomacy and pressure from Washington.
Indian shares also rallied on Monday.
Pakistan says will prioritize water treaty, Kashmir and ‘terrorism’ in potential talks with India
- India last month unilaterally suspended decades-old treaty, which ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms
- Both nuclear-armed nations agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after exchanging missile and drone attacks last week
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Islamabad will prioritize the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the Kashmir dispute and “terrorism” issues in potential talks with India, state-run media reported on Monday, days after armed clashes between the two concluded.
India and Pakistan exchanged missiles and drone attacks last week, which saw the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades before the two sides declared a ceasefire brokered by the US on Saturday. Tensions escalated after India blamed Pakistan for being involved in an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in Pahalgam, where 26 tourists were killed. Islamabad denied involvement.
After the Pahalgam attack on April 22, India suspended the decades-old IWT unilaterally, prompting Pakistan to say that it considered any attempts to stop or redirect the flow of its waters “an act of war.” Another bone of contention between the two countries is the issue of the disputed territory of Kashmir. Both countries claim the Muslim-majority region in full but govern only parts of it. They have fought two out of three wars since 1947 on the disputed territory.
“When asked about potential talks, he [Asif] emphasized that Pakistan would prioritize three major issues of contention including Indus Waters Treaty, Kashmir and terrorism which need to be resolved to ensure peace in the region,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
Speaking to a private television channel, Asif was quoted by state media as saying that the Pakistani armed forces’ capabilities are “globally recognized and admired.” The minister said Pakistan’s military response has left India disappointed and their “arrogant posture reduced to nothing but dust.”
“Khawaja Asif stated that India’s policymakers have been compelled to reassess their policies in light of Pakistan’s strong response,” Radio Pakistan said.
Militancy has also been a major issue between the two nuclear-armed nations. India accuses Pakistan of arming and supporting separatist militants in the part of Kashmir that it governs. Islamabad denies the allegations and says it only extends moral and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir and has always defended their right to self-determination.
The IWT ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms. India said it held the treaty, which was signed between the two states in 1960 and has been in force since then, in abeyance following the Pahalgam attack.
The IWT grants Pakistan rights to the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow.
India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam said any attempt to stop Pakistan’s share of water could lead to dangerous escalation between the two countries.
“Stopping or reducing our share is absolutely not acceptable and can lead to further and dangerous escalation,” he told Arab News on Sunday. “The revival of the Indus Waters Treaty in its current form remains a top priority on the agenda in any negotiations between the two countries.”
Pakistan’s Sajid Ali Sadpara summits seventh-highest mountain without supplemental oxygen
- Sajid Ali Sadpara, son of legendary climber Ali Sadpara, summited Nepal’s Dhaulagiri mountain on May 10
- Pakistan has produced several professional climbers who have summited some of the world’s tallest peaks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani climber Sajid Ali Sadpara has successfully summited the world’s seventh-highest mountain in Nepal, Dhaulagiri, without the use of supplemental oxygen, the mountaineer said recently.
Sadpara is the son of legendary Pakistani climber, Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who died in his quest to summit K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, in February 2021. Pakistani officials also declared Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr, who were on the quest with Ali Sadpara to summit the mountain, dead.
Alpine Club of Pakistan’s Secretary Karrar Haidri told the Associated Press of Pakistan that Sadpara was able to achieve the feat with the support of Seven Summit Treks, a commercial adventure operator based in Nepal.
“Alhamdulilah [praise be to Allah], Dhaulagiri summit without oxygen and unsupported yesterday 10 May with the team of Seven Summit Treks,” Sadpara posted on his Facebook page on Sunday.
In one of the images he uploaded with the post, Sadpara can be seen holding up the Pakistan flag as he reached the summit.
Dhaulagiri is located in the Dhaulagiri mountain range of Nepal’s Himalayas. It is also known as the “White Mountain” and is considered very popular among the eight-thousanders for expeditions. It lies northwest of Pokhara, an important tourist center in Nepal.
Pakistan has produced several professional climbers, both men and women, who have summited some of the world’s tallest peaks. Its Gilgit-Baltistan is a sparsely populated northern region administered by the country as an autonomous territory.
It is home to some of the tallest peaks in the world and a major tourist destination. Thousands of tourists and foreign climbers visit the region each year for expeditions on various peaks, paragliding and other sports activities.
Indian army reports ‘first calm night’ after Kashmir truce with Pakistan holds
- India, Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after worst fighting between neighbors in decades
- Both sides accused each other of violating ceasefire hours after it was announced by US President Trump
POONCH, India: The frontier between arch-foes India and Pakistan was peaceful and had the “first calm night in recent days,” the Indian army said Monday, after a surprise weekend ceasefire.
The truce was agreed to on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks between the two countries which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing.
It was the worst violence since the nuclear-armed rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sent global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.
There were initial doubts as the two sides accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by US President Donald Trump on social media.
“The night remained largely peaceful across... Kashmir and other areas along the international border,” the Indian army said.
“No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days,” the statement added.
It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, the frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India.
Poonch was one of the worst-hit regions in the latest conflict, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes.
On Sunday, people started trickling back to the town, although many still remained worried that the ceasefire would not last.
The alarming spiral toward all-out conflict began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps” in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.
This followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.
India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire.
It claimed to have downed five Indian fighter jets — something New Delhi has not commented on.
Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.
Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistan military says Islamabad did not request ceasefire during recent India clashes
- Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides
- Pakistan military spokesperson clarifies no Indian pilot in custody, denies New Delhi’s accusations of violating ceasefire
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said Islamabad did not request a ceasefire with New Delhi when the two nuclear-armed neighbors clashed in the worst fighting between them in decades last week, alleging that New Delhi had called for it after launching missile strikes in Pakistan.
Tensions between India and Pakistan over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir escalated last Wednesday, when India struck multiple Pakistani cities with missiles, quickly followed by what Islamabad said was the downing of five Indian fighter jets.
Both neighbors continued to attack the other’s territory with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery until Saturday evening, when US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire that has largely held, except for a few alleged violations in Kashmir.
“Let me put it on record, Pakistan never requested a ceasefire,” Chaudhry told reporters on Sunday night in a press briefing. “On the night of May 6 and 7, after those dastardly and cowardly attacks were made, Indians requested [a ceasefire] and Pakistan gave a very clear response, that we will communicate back only after we have given the response that this act deserves,” he added.
Providing operational details of the conflict, Chaudhry said Pakistan struck 26 Indian military facilities while dozens of its drones hovered over major Indian cities, including New Delhi, during Islamabad’s counter-offensive against India.
“Pakistan’s military response has been precise, proportionate and still remarkably restrained,” Chaudhry said, sharing details of ‘Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos,’ which translates to “a structure made of lead” in Arabic.
“It was carefully calibrated to avoid civilian casualties, and it exclusively targeted those entities and facilities which were directly involved in orchestrating and executing cold-blooded killings of Pakistani civilians,” the military spokesperson said.
Chaudhry added that Pakistani forces’ synergy across air, land, sea and cyber domains allowed for precision engagements, overwhelming lethality and rapid tempo operations.
“Precision-guided long-range missiles— Fatah-1 and Fatah-2— were employed by the Pakistan Army, while the Pakistan Air Force utilized highly capable long-range munitions and precision-guided weaponry,” he explained. “Long-range artillery units also contributed significantly to the strike package.”
He said critical sites hit by Pakistani armed forces included Indian Air Force and aviation bases at Suratgarh, Sirsa, Poonch, Naliya, Adampur, Bathinda, Barnala, Halwara, Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Udhampur, Mamoon, Ambala, and Pathankot. He said all these sites suffered significant damage.
“S-400 missile systems at Adampur and Poonch were also neutralized by the Pakistan Air Force,” Chaudhry said.
The military spokesperson said Pakistan’s armed forces also carried out comprehensive and effective cyber offensives, temporarily crippling and degrading critical Indian military infrastructure and services,
“These cyber strikes targeted systems directly supporting Indian military operations and were designed to disrupt their warfighting capabilities without affecting civilian platforms,” he added.
‘SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER’
In response to a question, the military spokesperson confirmed that no Indian pilot was in Pakistan Army’s custody following military clashes.
“I can confirm you that we do not have any pilot in custody, this is all social media chatter, this is all part of multiple sources of fake news and propaganda,” he said.
Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides, with some residents of border villages still waiting to return to their homes.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed the conflict was spiraling alarmingly. But within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both.
A top Indian army officer said on Sunday the Indian military had sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan about violations of a ceasefire agreed this week and informed it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if it was repeated.
“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, India’s director-general of military operations, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The [Indian] armed forces were on a very, very high alert [on Saturday] and continue to be in that state.”
Chaudhry denied any ceasefire violations by Pakistan, saying the country is upholding its commitment to refrain from acts of aggression.
“I can say with 200 percent conviction that we have not done any ceasefire violation,” he said.
Hostilities between the two neighbors were triggered by an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort town that killed 26 tourists on April 22. India accused Pakistan of backing the assault, Islamabad has denied it and called for a credible, international probe.
The Pakistani military spokesman said Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos had been a “great example” of coming together of all elements of Pakistan’s national power to effectively counter the threat to national sovereignty and integrity, warning of a similar response to any such attempt in the future.
“No one should have any doubt that whenever our sovereignty would be threatened and territorial integrity violated, the response would be comprehensive, retributive and decisive,” he said.
The military spokesperson emphasized that the idea of war between two nuclear-armed neighbors was absurd and inconceivable.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
On Sunday, Trump said he would try to work with both India and Pakistan to see if they can resolve their dispute over the Kashmir territory, vowing to “substantially” increase trade with both nations.
“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, referring to India and Pakistan.
“Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he added.
