Pakistani security forces killed 145 militants in a 40-hour span following coordinated separatist attacks that swept across Balochistan province over the weekend, officials said Sunday, in what authorities described as the highest single toll against insurgents since the country began its counterterrorism campaign decades ago.

The violence left nearly 200 people dead in total. Beyond the militant casualties, 31 civilians—including women and children—were killed alongside 17 members of Pakistan's security forces. The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the wave of assaults, which struck banks, prisons, police stations and military posts across more than a dozen locations in the restive southwestern province.

Sarfraz Bugti, Balochistan's chief minister, told reporters in the provincial capital of Quetta that his forces had recovered the bodies of all 145 militants. Some, he said, were Afghan nationals. The figure could not be independently verified.

"We were aware of their plans, and our forces were prepared," Bugti said.

A Province Under Siege

The attacks began shortly after midnight Saturday and unfolded simultaneously in Quetta, Gwadar, Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin and half a dozen other districts scattered across the province. Militants dressed in civilian clothing walked into hospitals, schools, banks and marketplaces before opening fire. Junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said the attackers used civilians as human shields in some locations.

In Gwadar, the strategic port city at the center of China's multibillion-dollar infrastructure investments in Pakistan, gunmen stormed the home of a laborer and killed 11 people—five women, three children, and three men. Elsewhere, insurgents overran a prison in Mastung district and freed more than 30 inmates, ransacking the facility and making off with weapons and ammunition.

A suicide bombing in Quetta killed several police officers. Shattered metal and burned-out vehicles littered the streets afterward.

Khan Muhammad, a resident, said armed men roamed openly through the city before security forces arrived. "It was a very scary day in the history of Quetta," he said.

The BLA released footage showing its commander, Bashir Zaib, leading columns of fighters on motorcycles. A separate video appeared to show the abduction of a district official, though the group later said he had been released. The separatists dubbed the operation "Herof"—black storm.

Islamabad Points to India and Afghanistan

Pakistani officials wasted little time assigning blame beyond the country's borders. Bugti accused India and Afghanistan of backing the attackers, referring to them as "Fitna al-Hindustan"—a phrase meaning "India's incitement" that has become standard government shorthand for the BLA. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif repeated the accusation and vowed to "completely eliminate" the militants.

Bugti said senior BLA commanders were directing operations from Afghan soil, in violation of commitments the Taliban made under the 2020 Doha agreement not to harbor groups targeting neighboring states.

India rejected the allegations outright.

"We categorically reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan, which are nothing but its usual tactics to deflect attention from its own internal failings," said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India's Foreign Ministry. He urged Islamabad to address "long-standing demands of its people in the region."

Afghanistan's Taliban government issued no statement.

The accusations reflect a familiar pattern. Pakistan has long maintained that India funds separatist violence in Balochistan, pointing to the 2016 arrest and conviction of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national sentenced to death for espionage, as evidence. New Delhi denies involvement. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, meanwhile, have deteriorated sharply since October, when Pakistani warplanes struck what Islamabad called Taliban hideouts inside Afghan territory.

Roots of the Insurgency

Balochistan sprawls across 42 percent of Pakistan's landmass but remains its poorest and most underdeveloped province. It sits atop vast reserves of natural gas, coal, copper and gold. Ethnic Baloch separatists have fought for decades, accusing the central government of extracting the province's wealth while leaving its people impoverished.

The $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, anchored by the deep-water port at Gwadar, has only deepened those grievances. What Islamabad and Beijing tout as transformative development, many Baloch view as another chapter of exploitation—one that benefits outsiders while displacing local fishermen and farmers.

The BLA has intensified its campaign in recent years, targeting not only Pakistani security forces but also Chinese nationals working on infrastructure projects. The United States designated the group and its armed wing as foreign terrorist organizations in August 2025. A month later, an American metals company signed a $500 million investment deal with Pakistan, underscoring Washington's interest in the province's mineral wealth.

Last year alone, Pakistani forces killed approximately 1,500 militants across Balochistan, according to Bugti. The weekend's violence nonetheless demonstrated the insurgency's continued reach.

Quiet Streets, Uncertain Future

By Sunday, Quetta had gone silent. Major roads sat empty. Shops stayed shuttered. Mobile internet remained cut across much of the province, and train services were suspended indefinitely.

Bugti said all affected districts had been cleared and that his forces were pursuing the remaining militants into their mountain hideouts.

"We are chasing them," he said. "We will not let them go so easily. Our blood is not that cheap."

The United States, Britain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemned the attacks. Natalie Baker, the American chargé d'affaires in Islamabad, said Washington "remains a steadfast partner of Pakistan in its efforts to ensure peace and stability."

Whether that stability can take root in Balochistan remains an open question. The province has seen this cycle before—spectacular violence followed by military operations, official promises, and then, eventually, more violence. The weekend's carnage, among the worst in years, offered little reason to expect the pattern would break.