BALOCHISTAN (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan’s security forces repelled a wave of coordinated militant attacks across Balochistan, thwarting near simultaneous assaults on police units, Frontier Corps facilities and administrative offices, and preventing what officials said was an attempted attack on a school aimed at taking children hostage.
According to security officials, the attacks were launched under the label “Herof 2.0” by militants identified locally as Fitna al Hindustan, with the aim of stretching response capacity and creating panic through multiple flashpoints. Authorities said forces responded swiftly at every location and brought the situation under control, despite brief exchanges of fire that continued into the evening in some districts.
In Quetta’s Saryaab Road area, militants opened fire on a police van but were met with an immediate response. Frontier Corps units reinforced the police, and officials reported that four attackers were killed. In Naushki, militants carried out a fire raid on the Frontier Corps headquarters, only to be forced to retreat after alert personnel returned heavy fire.
Officials also disclosed that militants attempted to enter a school with the apparent aim of taking children hostage in an attack reminiscent of the 2014 Army Public School massacre, but said security forces intervened in time to prevent harm to students and staff.
A separate attempted suicide attack at the Frontier Corps headquarters in Dalbandin led to a rapid cordon of the area and an exchange of fire as forces closed in on the attackers. In Kalat, militants targeted the deputy commissioner’s office and nearby police lines. Security officials said the response was effective and that attackers suffered losses as clearance operations continued.
Along the coast, a distant fire raid on a Pakistan Coast Guard post in Pasni was repelled without damage, while in Gwadar, militants attacked a labourers’ colony. Police and Frontier Corps units reached the site quickly, leading to a brief firefight and the containment of the threat. Grenade attacks and distant fire were also reported at security posts in Balicha, Tump and Mastung, all of which were repulsed.
Authorities reported two to three injuries among security personnel and said no civilian casualties had been confirmed. Government sources accused militant networks of exaggerating events through sympathetic media channels and linked the attacks to recent counterterrorism operations in which, according to official claims, more than fifty militants were killed over the past fourty eight hours across the province. Security has been heightened as intelligence led operations continue.
