Latest news with #Levies
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Nine terrorists killed, eight arrested in Malakand
ISLAMABAD: In a major counter-terrorism success, Pakistani security forces, in coordination with Police, Levies, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), and District Administration, conducted a four-day joint intelligence-based operation in Malakand District, targeting elements of the Indian-backed proxy group Fitna al Khwarij. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation, which took place from 16 to 20 July, resulted in the elimination of nine Indian-sponsored terrorists, while eight others were apprehended. The forces engaged In multiple intense fire exchanges before neutralising the militants. Two hideouts used by the group were also dismantled, and a large cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives was seized. The local population lauded the operation and expressed full support for the state's ongoing efforts to eliminate terrorism. A sanitisation operation is currently underway to ensure no remaining elements of the militant group remain in the area. The security forces and law enforcement agencies, with the backing of the nation, remain resolute in their mission to eradicate Indian-sponsored terrorism and maintain peace and stability across the country. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Five killed, seven injured in deadly tribal clash in southwestern Pakistan
QUETTA: Five people were killed while seven others were injured in Pakistan's southwestern Killa Abdullah district on Sunday after an armed clash between two tribes, a senior official said. The clash broke out on Sunday evening between members of the ethnic Pashtun tribes of Achakzai and Kakar, lasting for several hours before tribal elders, the paramilitary Levies force and Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan brokered a ceasefire between them. 'Five people have been killed and seven injured in the latest clashes that erupted between Achakzai and Kakar tribesmen in Killa Abdullah district,' Shahzaib Kakar, commissioner of Quetta Division, told Arab News on Sunday. He said members of both tribes were involved in 'an old tribal dispute,' adding that both sides agreed to a ceasefire after security forces arrived in the area. Hayat Achakzai, a local journalist based in Killa Abdullah district, said clashes broke out at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday when members of both tribes came face to face at the district's Tot Adda area. 'Both tribes were engaged in a dispute since March 2025 following a motorbike snatching,' Achakzai said. 'They were chasing each other for the last two weeks but today met with an armed clash.' Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province by land mass but its most backward one by almost all social and economic indicators, has a strong tribal system with powerful chieftains. Disputes between rival tribes over honor, land and decades-old feuds are common here, often resulting in armed clashes. Ethnic Baloch militant groups have launched a low-level insurgency against the state for years in Balochistan, accusing Islamabad of exploiting the province's mineral resources and denying locals a share in it. The government denies the allegations and points to health, development and educational projects that it says have been launched to empower the people of Balochistan.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Nine militants killed, eight arrested in Malakand: ISPR
RAWALPINDI: The army said Sunday evening that a joint intelligence based operation was conducted by the security forces along with police, Levies, CTD and District Administration in Malakand District, on reported presence of 'khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij.' During the conduct of operation, spread over four days, own forces skillfully surrounded & effectively engaged the khwarij location, and after intense multiple fire exchanges, nine Indian sponsored khwarij were sent to hell, while eight khwarij were apprehended,' the ISPR said. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistani forces kill 13 ‘Indian-sponsored militants' in separate engagements — military
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed 13 'Indian-sponsored militants' in separate engagements in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces, the Pakistani military said on Sunday. Security forces conducted a joint intelligence-based operation along with police, paramilitary Levies and district administration in KP's Malakand district from July 16 till July 20, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing. During the operation, Pakistani security personnel skillfully surrounded and engaged the militant location and after intense fire exchanges, nine Indian-sponsored militants were killed and eight others apprehended. 'Two hideouts used by khwarij [militants] were also busted and a large quantity of weapons ammunition and explosives was recovered,' the ISPR said in a statement. 'Sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other Kharji found in the area.' In a separate operation in Balochistan, Pakistani security forces four Indian-sponsored militants in the Kalat district, according to the ISPR. 'Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,' it said. Meanwhile, seven police personnel from two police stations were reportedly abducted in two separate incidents in KP's South Waziristan district, local media reported, citing police. A search was ongoing for the missing law enforcers. Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies: one led my religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), mainly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan. Islamabad accuses India of backing the separatists in Balochistan as well as religiously motivated militant groups, like the Pakistani Taliban, in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. India denies the allegations. In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for successful operations against militants in Kalat and Malakand. 'This successful operation against terrorists is a perfect example of harmony between different institutions,' he said. 'The entire nation stands with the security forces in the fight against terrorism.'
Arab News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Cop killed, five security men injured in separate attacks in Pakistan's Balochistan
QUETTA: A policeman was killed and five security men were injured in two separate attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, provincial authorities said on Friday. In the first incident, unidentified assailants opened fire on a police vehicle in Balochistan's Mastung district, according to provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind. 'One official was martyred and three were injured in the firing,' he said in a statement. 'The injured officials were shifted to hospital for medical assistance.' Security forces reached the site and a search was on for the assailants, according to the spokesman. In another incident, armed men attacked a paramilitary Levies check-post in Sarband area of Mastung and injured two troops, according to a Levies statement. The attackers fled the scene after timely retaliation by Levies personnel. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government officials and installations and people from other provinces, particularly Punjab, the country's most populous and prosperous province and a major recruitment base for the military. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the strongest of a number of insurgent groups operating in the mineral-rich region bordering Afghanistan and Iran who accuse the central government of stealing their resources to fund development in Punjab. The federal government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan, where China has been building a deep-sea port as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Earlier this month, dozens of militants armed with guns and rockets stormed Mastung and vandalized a bank, tehsil and other offices, officials said, with a teenager killed and 11 others injured in the attack. On Wednesday, three people were killed and 12 others sustained injuries in Balochistan's Kalat district after unidentified men opened fire on a passenger bus headed toward Quetta, according to officials. The attack followed a similar assault on passenger buses in which armed men kidnapped and killed nine passengers, who hailed from the eastern Punjab province.
