Destruction at Quetta police station following militant attack, Baluchistan head reacts to incident.
Police officers examine the site of Saturday’s suicide bombing, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb.
People walk past the site of Saturday’s suicide bombing, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb.
Relatives of police officers who were killed in a militants attack, mourn outside a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan.
A journalist takes photo with his mobile phone to ambulances carrying the bodies of police officers who were killed in a militants attack, outside a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan.
The raids began early Saturday at multiple locations across Balochistan, and left 18 civilians, including five women and three children, and 15 security personnel dead, authorities said.
Sarfraz Bugti, the provincial chief minister, told reporters in Quetta that troops and police officers responded swiftly, killing 145 members of “ Fitna al-Hindustan,” a phrase the government uses for the allegedly Indian-backed outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA.
The number of militants killed over the past two days was the highest in decades, he said.
“The bodies of these 145 killed terrorists are in our custody, and some of them are Afghan nationals,” he said.
Bugti claimed that the ”Indian-backed terrorists” wanted to take hostages but failed to make it to the city center.
He spoke alongside senior government official Hamza Shafqat, who often oversees such operations against insurgents in the province, and praised the military, police and paramilitary forces for repelling the assaults.
Militant attacks erupted on Saturday in a resource-rich region where Pakistan is seeking to attract foreign investment in mining and minerals.
The political importance lies in whether the issue moves from public comment into formal action, party response, court record, election authority notice or administrative decision.
