Security forces killed at least 41 militants during intelligence-based operations (IBOs) carried out in Balochistan’s Harnai and Panjgur districts on January 29, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday.
In a statement, the military’s media wing said the operations targeted militants belonging to what it described as Fitna-al-Khawarij and Fitna-al-Hindustan. The state uses the term Fitna-al-Khawarij for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while Fitna-al-Hindustan refers to Balochistan-based militant groups, which Pakistan alleges are sponsored by India.
According to ISPR, an intelligence-based operation was conducted on the outskirts of Harnai district after reports of the presence of Fitna-al-Khawarij militants. “During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the hideout, and after an intense fire exchange, 30 India-sponsored khawarij were sent to hell,” the statement said. A large cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered and subsequently destroyed.
Separately, security forces carried out another IBO in Panjgur district, where a militant hideout was busted and 11 militants belonging to Fitna-al-Hindustan were killed. ISPR said weapons, ammunition and cash looted during a bank robbery in Panjgur on December 15, 2025, were recovered from the militants’ possession. The statement added that those killed had been involved in multiple militant activities in the past.
ISPR said sanitisation operations were ongoing to eliminate any remaining militants in the area, adding that Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign under the vision of Azm-i-Istehkam, approved by the federal apex committee on the National Action Plan, would continue “at full pace”.