ISPR Says Security Forces Killed Over 71 Militants in Balochistan in 96 Hours

Pakistan's military said security forces killed more than 71 militants across Balochistan over 96 hours, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on September 27, 2026. Four days earlier, ISPR had put the toll from the same campaign at 19.

What ISPR reported this time

According to ISPR, Operation Shaban was launched in Ziarat and surrounding areas on September 21 after intelligence identified militant hideouts in the Shaban area of Quetta district. ISPR said 33 militants had been killed there in intense exchanges of fire, 23 of them in the last 72 hours, and that weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered, Radio Pakistan reported. In Nushki district, forces engaged a hideout and killed 11 militants, and in Mand they killed six it labelled "Fitna al-Hindustan," recovering a large quantity of weapons and ammunition. ISPR said the clearance operation would continue "until complete neutralisation of the threat." The statement did not itemise how the 71 total was reached.

How this compares to the last update

On September 23, ISPR reported 19 militants killed: 13 in the Shaban clearance operation and six in separate intelligence-based operations in Kech and Quetta West, with one soldier, Subedar Muhammad Jamil, killed. Build Better Pakistan covered that statement at the time. The new statement raises the Shaban count from 13 to 33 and adds Nushki and Mand to the districts where forces say they engaged militants.

The label ISPR uses, and what it means

As in its earlier statements, ISPR described the militants as "Indian-sponsored" and used the terms "Fitna al-Khawarij" and "Fitna al-Hindustan." The Express Tribune notes that the state uses the first for militants linked to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the second for what it calls India-sponsored outfits operating in Balochistan. Build Better Pakistan has not independently verified the Indian-sponsorship claim. None of the casualty figures in this statement come from an independent source; they are ISPR's account alone.

The campaign framing

ISPR again tied the operations to Azm-e-Istehkam, the counter-terrorism campaign approved by the Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan, saying it "will continue with full resolve." President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the forces, the Tribune reported.

The statements follow the Balochistan Liberation Army's claim of 28 operations across a dozen districts in early September, and come a day after gunmen abducted 12 workers from a construction camp in Duki district, according to police.

Build Better Pakistan's Security Desk tracks military operations and insurgent activity across Balochistan as part of our ongoing regional coverage.