ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry that security forces and law enforcement agencies killed 54 militants following three major attacks in Balochistan over the past four days that left 42 members of the security forces martyred.
At a news briefing on the security situation in Balochistan, military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said militants carried out three coordinated attacks, targeting civilians and police checkposts.
He said militants attacked police checkposts in the Ziarat district, where all of the officers killed were local police personnel. According to the military, 18 police officers were martyred in the fighting, while security forces killed 14 militants in the latest operation. Another 14 security personnel were martyred in a separate incident.
Chaudhry said the three attacks resulted in a total of 42 security personnel being martyred while defending the country.
He added that security forces and other law enforcement agencies have so far killed 54 militants in counterterrorism operations launched in response to the attacks, and operations are continuing to eliminate those responsible and their alleged facilitators.
The military spokesperson blamed militants it referred to as "Fitna al-Khawarij" for targeting innocent civilians and praised the people of Balochistan and local police for resisting the attacks.
Chaudhry also alleged that militant groups were carrying out attacks in Pakistan with the support of Afghanistan's Taliban-led government and said those behind the violence were seeking to undermine Pakistan's peace, development and prosperity.
The Afghan Taliban administration has repeatedly denied allegations that it allows Afghan territory to be used for attacks inside Pakistan.
"We are here to stay," Chaudhry said, vowing that security forces would continue operations until all militants and their supporters were brought to justice.
