Balochistan faced its most lethal week in years this July, and in the face of the threat, Pakistan’s
security establishment responded with strength, a strength that is worthy of admiration, no
knee-jerk reaction. On 4th July, militants attacked Hanna Urak Valley near Quetta killing four
and injuring six civilians. In the next few days, militants attacked the police post where the
work on the Mangi Dam was taking place in the Ziarat district and attacked an army convoy
near Bela in Lasbela district. The death toll from the week from that day was forty-two,
including thirty-eight security personnel and four civilians, according to Reuters. They were
not soldiers in some abstract war, but policemen and soldiers who guarded a dam, a highway,
a valley of ordinary people. On July 5th Islamabad responded to the attack with Operation
Shaban and the state has responded with a speed, coordination and a relentless effort since.
That response was not launched carelessly. But the trend was clear, and the Global Terrorism
Index 2026 reported 1,139 fatalities and 1,045 incidents from terrorism in Pakistan in 2025, a
5.9 per cent increase, with Pakistan being the most terrorism-affected country in the world for
the first time in its history. The attacks in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa combined
made up more than seventy four percent of the total attacks in the country. From there, a critical
operation was not an option, it was long past due.
The institutional coordination of Operation Shaban is a testament to two decades of hard
experiences that the Pakistan’s security establishment has acquired. In the Pashtun north around
Ziarat, the forces are breaking up Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan cells Islamabad says is receiving
supply and sanctuary from beyond the Afghan border, which has become even more liberal
ever since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, in a regional failure that has nothing
to do with Pakistan. In Baloch south regions around Lasbela and Khuzdar, the Balochistan
Liberation Army is facing off against forces, some of which Pakistani government has
documented as being backed by outside sources, including from India, a claim that the latter
denies but is consistent with a long history of one side in the region using Pakistan’s internal
fault lines to their own benefit. Intelligence-based operations coupled with ground operations
and the support of gunships from helicopters are being conducted concurrently by the Pakistan
Army, Frontier Corps Balochistan and the Balochistan Police, which has seen a noticeable
reduction in the speed of the decline of the militant networks in punishing mountainous terrain
within a matter of weeks.
The results, according to the state’s own reporting, have been significant. By July 9th, Radio
Pakistan and Dawn put the death toll at thirty-nine while The Diplomat, (by quoting security
sources) placed it near one hundred twenty-three by mid-July, and the Express Tribune at
eighty-eight deaths by July 11th. As with any rapidly changing operational theatre, the figures
for the number of casualties have been reported differently from source to source, and some
separatist proponents have challenged the accuracy of some of these numbers but not been able
to provide an alternative figure of their own that has been independently substantiated. That
disagreement is important to remember in balance but should not detract from the key success
of the operation – the quick multi-front response to a coordinated attack force, which might
otherwise not have been answered.
Some rights activists have also expressed concerns about displacement resulting from CPEC
development in the Gwadar area. Pakistani and CPEC officials have replied that they are longterm investments to create jobs, infrastructure and stability in a historically underdeveloped
area – an argument that should be taken on board seriously as Gwadar’s development has been
exactly what the Balochs’ grievances have always craved.
At a time when such a message of united national resolve was needed the most, Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were seen side by side in Quetta, calling
terrorism an “end is nigh” decision which is, “mutual and singular. Residents who blocked the
highway near Mangi Dam were not opposing the state’s mission, rather they are seeking state
protection of which it has now taken steps. Operation Shaban won’t solve all the problems in
Balochistan and can’t close a border sanctuary which is out of Pakistan’s unilateral jurisdiction.
But it’s a state that has responded to a real security threat in a coordinated way, with a clear
objective, and must be judged by its outcomes, not on the grounds that it could have been
anticipated.
Sources
- Reuters. Pakistan says 42 security personnel killed in Balochistan attacks this
week. 8 July 2026. - BBC News. Pakistan: Nine police officers killed in Balochistan attack, say local
officials. 7 July 2026. - Umair Jamal. Pakistan’s Operation Shaban Targets Both the TTP and BLA in
Balochistan. The Diplomat. 15 July 2026. - Dawn. 8 more terrorists killed during ongoing Operation Shaban in
Balochistan: state media. 13 July 2026. - The Express Tribune. 17 more terrorists killed in Operation Shaban, toll reaches
43: Security sources. 10 July 2026. - Radio Pakistan. Balochistan: 91 terrorists killed in Operation Shaban. 16 July
2026. - Quwa. Operation Shaban: A Timeline of Pakistan’s Counterinsurgency Efforts
in Balochistan. - Institute for Economics and Peace. Global Terrorism Index 2026.
- Quetta Voice. Pakistan ranked first as terrorism-affected country in Global
Terrorism Index 2026. 21 July 2026. - Aaj English TV. Operation Shaban: 21 more militants killed in Balochistan.
Author’s Bio
The author is an intern with the Centre for Counter Terrorism and Extreme violence program
at the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), Islamabad. The views expressed in this article are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute of Regional
Studies or any affiliated organization.