KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan’s Geo News, citing Pakistani security sources, has reported that 11 Pakistani security personnel were killed during an operation against militants in Balochistan.
In a report published today (Wednesday, July 8), the outlet said that 19 militants were also killed during the operation.
According to the report, the operation was launched along Balochistan’s N-25 highway, where militants from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were allegedly extorting money from travelers and local residents.
The operation was launched a day after armed militants attacked a police checkpoint in the Mangi area of Balochistan’s Ziarat district late on Monday. According to police, the assault resulted in the deaths of nine police officers, while five others were abducted following an exchange of gunfire with the attackers.
Militant violence has surged across Pakistan in recent years, with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces — both bordering Afghanistan — seeing the highest number of attacks. The TTP and Baloch separatist groups have stepped up attacks on security forces and state installations.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban authorities of harbouring TTP fighters and allowing them to use Afghan territory to plan and launch cross-border attacks. The Taliban rejects these allegations, maintaining that Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal issue and that no such groups operate from Afghan soil.
On the surface, the Taliban have sought to distance themselves from involvement in the TTP’s conflict with the Pakistani government. Last year, they organized a large gathering of religious scholars in Kabul and issued a religious decree stating that participating in “jihad” outside Afghanistan is “not obligatory.”
Nevertheless, some Taliban-affiliated officials and preachers have continued to argue that “fighting on Pakistani soil” is permissible.
The rise in violence has strained relations between Pakistan and the Taliban authorities in Kabul. For years, Pakistan maintained close ties with the Afghan Taliban and hosted many of the movement’s leaders and fighters during the two decades of war against the Western-backed Afghan government that preceded the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
In recent months, however, relations have deteriorated sharply, with both sides exchanging accusations and military actions along the border. Pakistan has carried out several airstrikes in border areas and, in some cases, deeper inside Afghanistan.
Clashes that began in late February have resulted in significant civilian casualties in Afghanistan. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, at least 75 civilians have been killed and 193 others wounded across the country since then, with women and children accounting for the majority of casualties.
The latest operation reflects the continuing deterioration of Pakistan’s security situation, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where militant attacks have increased in recent years. The growing violence has further strained relations between Pakistan and the Taliban administration in Afghanistan, with both sides continuing to exchange accusations over cross-border militancy while security concerns persist along the shared border.
