Major Wajahat Waheed of the Pakistan Army was killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) blast targeted a security forces team during a clearance operation in Gwadar district, the military media wing (ISPR) said on Monday, October 19. In a separate intelligence-based operation in the Jattakabad area of Kalat district, security forces killed four militants, according to the same statement as reported by Arab News. ISPR said sanitization operations would continue. The major’s death is a reminder of what clearing ground in Balochistan actually costs, and why the army’s campaign against armed groups such as the BLA deserves public backing and honest scrutiny in equal measure.
Key takeaways
- ISPR says Major Wajahat Waheed was killed by an IED blast targeting a security forces team during a clearance operation in Gwadar district.
- ISPR says four militants were killed in a separate intelligence-based operation in Kalat’s Jattakabad area, and that sanitization operations will continue in the area.
- On October 17, ISPR said forces recovered 490 kilograms of explosives in Khuzdar. In September, it said forces recovered 2.9 tonnes of explosives in Kharan and Washuk.
- ISPR’s statement as reported did not name a group for the Gwadar blast, and no claim of responsibility has been reported.
What ISPR said
According to Arab News, the military described two incidents. In Kalat, forces killed four militants in an intelligence-based operation. In Gwadar, an IED targeted a team carrying out a clearance operation and killed the major. The statement said sanitization operations would go on to remove any other militants found in the area. The report added that no group had claimed responsibility for the recent abductions in the province and that the incidents come amid a spike in attacks and kidnappings.
Little else has been published about the blast. The statement did not say how many others were hurt, where exactly in Gwadar district the device was placed, or what group was believed responsible. Readers should treat the military’s account as the only account available, and it has not been independently verified.
Why clearance is the most dangerous work
A clearance or sanitization operation sends soldiers into ground that armed groups may already have mined. Unlike a raid on a known hideout, there is little to see until a device goes off. That is why finding and removing explosives before a unit walks into them matters. ISPR said forces recovered 490 kilograms of explosives in Khuzdar on October 17, and in September it reported 2.9 tonnes in Kharan and Washuk, which we covered in our analysis of why militants keep reappearing. Those quantities are enough to build many bombs. Each stockpile found is a set of attacks that did not happen, and it is the kind of result a quarterly death toll never captures, as we discussed in our piece on the CRSS figure.
The BLA has said it uses explosives against convoys. IANS, an Indian news agency, reported that the group claimed explosive and sniper attacks on military convoys during the week of October 7 to 12, which we examined in our piece on how to read the BLA’s claims. No claim has been linked to the Gwadar blast, so this piece does not attribute it to the BLA.
Why this backs the army’s campaign
The people doing the clearing carry the risk for everyone else. Major Waheed was killed on an operation meant to make an area safe for the people who live there. We wrote about a senior soldier who died in the same fight in our piece on Subedar Muhammad Jamil, and the same respect belongs to every officer and soldier who dies on these operations.
The alternative is worse. If forces did not clear and search, armed groups would keep the freedom to lay devices on roads, plan abductions and attack checkpoints, as we described in our piece on this month’s abduction wave. The operations of recent weeks, from Washuk and Mastung to Khuzdar, are aimed at the same networks.
It answers the BLA’s own claim to protect Baloch communities. Roadside devices threaten local people as much as soldiers. A group that says it fights for the province should not leave explosives where families and drivers travel. The UN Security Council has already condemned the BLA’s attacks on civilians, as we explained in our piece on its statements.
What honest support also asks
The army’s account here is brief, and the public deserves more: who was injured, what was found, and what is being done to protect clearance teams. Critics note that sanitization operations in inhabited areas can disturb local life, and human rights groups raise concerns about enforced disappearances in Balochistan, which the authorities deny. The separatists say the province’s resources are used to fund development elsewhere, and the government denies this, according to Arab News. Many analysts argue that safe roads need jobs and services along them as well as armed protection. Honoring a fallen officer and asking for open information are not opposing positions.
Questions readers are asking
Who was Major Wajahat Waheed?
Major Wajahat Waheed was a Pakistan Army officer. ISPR said on October 19, 2026 that he was killed when an IED blast targeted a security forces team during a clearance operation in Gwadar district. ISPR did not release further biographical details in the statement as reported.
What happened in the Kalat operation?
ISPR said security forces killed four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the Jattakabad area of Kalat district. The figure is official and has not been independently verified.
Who was behind the Gwadar IED blast?
It has not been stated. ISPR’s statement as reported did not name a group, and no claim of responsibility has been reported. The state generally attributes militant violence in Balochistan to what it calls Fitna al-Hindustan, but no evidence has been published for this blast.
Sources: Arab News (October 19, 2026) citing ISPR; ISPR statements as reported by Express Tribune and Radio Pakistan (October 18, 2026); IANS (October 13, 2026). This is an opinion article. Claims from the state and armed groups are unverified.
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