Over two years, Balochistan’s security forces have carried out more than 60,000 intelligence-based operations and raids. Armed groups have killed 551 civilians and more than 300 police and other security personnel in that time. Those are the figures that Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Hamza Shafqat gave at a press conference in Quetta on Tuesday, October 20, together with 1,100 suspected terrorists killed and 450 arrested. The numbers come from the state and have not been independently verified. They still tell a plain story: groups like the BLA kill far more civilians than soldiers, and the Pakistan Army and police have answered with relentless, costly work to stop them. This site stands with the army.
Key takeaways
- Officials said more than 60,000 intelligence-based operations and raids were carried out over two years, killing 1,100 suspected terrorists and leading to 450 arrests.
- They said 551 civilians and more than 300 police and other security personnel were killed in terrorist incidents.
- The government said it had introduced 18 laws and set up 17 departments, and that a faceless court was handling cases involving 90 people.
- The figures cover the whole province, not only the BLA, and are official and unverified.
What officials said
According to Balochistan Pulse, Shafqat spoke alongside Home Minister Ziaullah Langove and the chief minister’s adviser Shahid Rind at the Civil Secretariat. He listed the operations, the arrests, the deaths of security personnel and civilians, the new laws and departments, and the digitisation of the home department and arms licensing. The government said it was taking additional measures to secure national highways. Langove said the provincial government stood with the security forces.
What the numbers prove
The BLA and groups like it kill civilians first. By the officials’ count, 551 civilians died in terrorist incidents, against more than 300 police and other security personnel. That is nearly two civilians for every member of the forces. The BLA says it fights the state. The record says otherwise: the January 31 attacks, the Quetta train bombing, labourers taken at Duki and Khuzdar, and burned buses on the Quetta–Taftan highway. The UN Security Council has condemned the BLA’s attacks on civilians, as we explained in our piece on its statements.
The army and police never stop. Sixty thousand operations in two years is about 82 a day. Most never make a headline. They are the searches, raids and clearances that keep highways open and bomb-making material out of armed hands. In one fortnight this month, security forces recovered 490 kilograms of explosives in Khuzdar, brought 20 abducted police recruits home safely from Kalat, and lost Major Wajahat Waheed to a roadside bomb in Gwadar. We covered the work in our analysis of why militants keep reappearing and in our piece on Major Wajahat Waheed.
The price is paid in uniform. More than 300 police and security personnel killed is a loss measured in families. We wrote about the front-line role of police in our Quetta piece and about one soldier in our piece on Subedar Muhammad Jamil.
The state is building the legal and administrative machinery to win. Eighteen new laws, 17 new departments, a digitised arms licensing system and a faceless court to protect witnesses and judges are signs of a government that expects a long fight and is preparing for it.
Why the BLA’s own claims fail the test
The group’s casualty claims run far above the record. On January 31 it claimed 220 security personnel killed, against an official 22, as we showed in our comparison of the numbers, and we explained how to read its latest claim in our piece on the Jiwani claim. Governments are also closing in on its money, as we covered in our sanctions analysis. A group that takes officials and recruits hostage, as we documented in our piece on the abduction wave, has no claim to speak for the province.
What readers should know about the figures
These are official figures and have not been independently verified, the same as every BLA claim. They are also provincial totals for all terrorist groups, so not every death belongs to the BLA. They do not match every earlier official statement: in September, President Zardari said more than 1,188 militants were killed in Balochistan in 2026 alone, while today’s total is 1,100 over two years. The two may use different definitions, and the state should explain the difference. The faceless court’s procedures were not detailed in the account I read. Baloch rights groups accuse state forces of enforced disappearances, which the authorities deny. We note these points because a case that tells the whole story is the hardest to attack. None of them changes the central fact: armed groups are killing civilians and soldiers, and the army and police are fighting to stop them.
Our position
Bottom line: By the state’s own count, armed groups have killed 551 civilians and more than 300 members of the forces. The Pakistan Army and police have answered with 60,000 operations. This site stands with the army and against the BLA and every group that kills them.
Questions readers are asking
What did Balochistan’s government say about security operations on October 20, 2026?
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Hamza Shafqat said more than 60,000 intelligence-based operations and raids over two years killed 1,100 suspected terrorists and led to 450 arrests. He said more than 300 police and security personnel and 551 civilians were killed in terrorist incidents.
How many civilians have been killed in terrorist incidents in Balochistan?
Balochistan officials say 551 civilians died in terrorist incidents over the past two years, compared with more than 300 police and other security personnel. The figure is official, covers all terrorist groups and has not been independently verified.
Are the government’s security figures verified?
No. They come from provincial officials, and no independent confirmation was found. They also do not match every earlier official figure, such as the president’s September statement that more than 1,188 militants were killed in 2026.
Sources: Balochistan Pulse (October 20, 2026) reporting the Quetta press conference; UN Security Council press statement SC/16287; earlier reporting cited in linked posts. This is an opinion article. Figures from the state and from armed groups are unverified.
