On Monday, July 6, 2026, dozens of gunmen attacked a police outpost in the Ziarat district of Balochistan, surrounding the Mangi Dam project. Eighteen policemen were kidnapped and later murdered in the incident; nine others were killed during the assault. Two days later, militants ambushed a military convoy in Lasbela, killing 11 soldiers. On Wednesday, Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, stated that forty-two people, including four civilians, had been killed in the attacks. ″We will chase you, and we will hurt you″ he warned during a televised press briefing, adding that fifty-four militants had been killed by security forces in response.

The attack was the latest in an insurgency that predates Pakistan’s current government and political class. In Balochistan, five separatist upsurges have occurred since 1947. The last two years have seen two insurgent groups, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), simultaneously take part in the unrest, vying for resources and influence. The BLA’s ethno-nationalist agenda focuses on attacking infrastructure and foreign interests, whereas the TTP, which receives logistical support from the Afghan Taliban, primarily operates in Pakistan’s tribal belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Balochistan, targets security installations, and proclaims jihad. The Pakistani Taliban’s attacks have been blamed on both Afghanistan and India, claims that Islamabad has denied. Despite Pakistan’s accusations, the BLA and TTP find safe havens and sources of recruitment in Pakistani territory.

Pakistan has primarily responded to intensifying violence with kinetic means. Since 5th July, Pakistan has announced the killing of over a hundred militants in Balochistan. Weeks of operations have resulted in hundreds of casualties on both sides, with........

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