- Security agencies on high alert following Balochistan attacks
RAWALPINDI: Pakistani Army has said that its intelligence has linked the overnight twin attacks on Frontier Corps bases in Balochistan to handlers in India and Afghanistan.
“As per initial investigation, intelligence agencies have intercepted communications between terrorists and their handlers in Afghanistan and India,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Thursday.
A total of 13 terrorists were killed and seven soldiers embraced martyrdom in Naushki and Panjgur clashes, the ISPR said. The security forces thwarted terror attacks on their camps in Balochistan, initially killing four terrorists on Wednesday evening.
Security agencies on high alert
The intelligence and security agencies of the country have been ordered to remain on high alert hours after two separate terror attacks took place in Balochistan.
The terrorists had late Wednesday evening tried to attack security forces’ camps in Balochistan’s Panjgur and Naushki, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The Ministry of Interior, in a notification, has directed the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) across the country — including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan — to observe the “highest level of preparedness”.
The ministry said extra vigilance on the part of LEAs, provincial governments, and intelligence agencies would allow them to thwart nefarious designs of anti-state elements.
The ministry noted that Frontier Corps Balochistan’s “alertness and bravery” was instrumental in repelling the two attacks in Balochistan.
The latest statement issued by the military’s media wing said that the security forces carried out a clearance operation to hunt down the more terrorists hiding in the stated areas of Balochistan on Wednesday night after repulsing the attacks.
“In Naushki, the security forces shot down five more terrorists, bringing the tally to nine terrorists killed in the area while four soldiers embraced martyrdom in the encounter,” the ISPR said.
Meanwhile, an operation is still underway in Panjgur for the elimination of terrorists present in the area, where four terrorists have so far been killed and four to five others have been encircled by the security forces. The ISPR said that in Panjgur, three soldiers were martyred and four others got wounded.
“After successfully repulsing terrorist attacks at Panjgur and Naushki yesterday night, Security Forces carried out clearance operation to hunt down terrorists hiding in the area,” said the ISPR.
The attacks in Panjgur and Naushki were claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army, which said it had used suicide bombers to enter the bases. The US in 2019 classified the Balochistan Liberation Army as a terrorist group.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad also issued a statement to hail the services of the security forces. The minister, in a video statement released on Twitter, said that the terrorists made a major attack in Naushki and Panjgur late on Wednesday night, which the “great forces” of Pakistan thwarted.
“In Naushki, nine terrorists were killed and four soldiers were martyred, while in Panjgur, six terrorists were killed,” Rasheed said. He went on to say that the terrorists have been thrown out of both Naushki and Panjgur as the forces “kept their tradition alive”.
“This is a great victory that the Pakistan Army has achieved against terror as per routine,” he said. He revealed that four to five terrorists are still surrounded by the security forces in Panjgur. “Pakistan Army will soon defeat them as well,” he concluded.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib, and Prime Minister’s Special Representative Maulana Tahir Ashrafi have strongly condemned the terrorist attacks on camps of security forces in Panjgur and Naushki.
In their separate messages, they said that entire nation stands with security forces, who are capable enough to cope with menace of terrorism. They appreciated the security forces for repulsing the terrorist attacks on security camps.
