54 terrorists, 38 security personnel killed in Balochistan over four days

At least 54 terrorists, 38 security personnel and four civilians were killed during the last four days in various incidents in the restive Balochistan province, the ISPR said on Wednesday.

The trouble began on the night of July 4 and 5 when Fitna al Khawarij terrorists attacked the innocent local population in Hanna Urak, Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, told a press conference at Rawalpindi.

The state uses the term Fitna al-Khawarij to refer to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates.

Four civilians were killed and six injured during that incident, he said. In the second incident, terrorists late Monday night carried out a multi-directional attack on a police checkpoint, set up to guard a Pumping Station in Mangi Dam in Ziarat district, in which nine policemen, including two station house officers (SHOs), were killed. At least 15 terrorists were killed in a retaliatory clearance operation following the attack, the ISPR DG said.

Several police officials were taken as hostages, making the subsequent operation by paramilitary Frontier Corps, army personnel and other law enforcement agencies (LEAs) complicated, he said.