Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry briefed the media in Rawalpindi on July 8, detailing three coordinated terrorist attacks in Balochistan since July 4 and the retaliatory operations that followed, which killed 54 terrorists against a toll of 42 martyrs comprising civilians, police personnel, and soldiers.
The three attacks included an assault on civilians in Hanna Urak, a multi-directional strike on a police checkpost at Mangi Dam in Ziarat, and an ambush on an army convoy in Bela-Winder. DG ISPR attributed the Bela attack to “Fitna al Hindustan,” a network linked to the Balochistan Liberation Army, while the Ziarat and Hanna Urak attacks were attributed to “Fitna al Khawarij,” the state’s designation for TTP-affiliated militants. He asserted that the majority of terrorists killed were Afghan nationals and linked the June 27 attack on a Karachi Rangers camp to planning and logistics originating from Afghan soil.
DG ISPR described Kabul’s Taliban administration as an “illegitimate Afghan Taliban regime” providing manpower and active facilitation to anti-Pakistan networks, while directly accusing India of directing the broader campaign against Balochistan’s stability, progress, and people. He also connected the Bela convoy ambush to what he termed “Fitna al Hindustan,” alleging Indian direction of the BLA-linked network.
During the prolonged Ziarat siege, forces deliberately avoided deploying aerial assets due to police personnel being held hostage, relying instead on a coordinated ground encirclement by the Army, Frontier Corps, and law enforcement agencies working alongside intelligence operatives.
DG ISPR vowed continued clearance operations until all terrorists and their facilitators are brought to their “logical end,” reiterating Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir’s pledge to dismantle cross-border sanctuaries with the full might of the state. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Quetta on a one-day visit, signalling federal-level attention to the unfolding security situation.
