Security forces have killed 12 terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Kalat district of Balochistan, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday.

According to the statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the IBO was conducted on Saturday on the reported presence of “terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna-al-Hindustan”.

The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna-al-Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan.

The ISPR statement detailed that during the operation yesterday, “own forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, and after an intense fire exchange, 12 Indian-sponsored terrorists were sent to hell”.

Weapons, ammunition and explosives were found in the terrorists’ possession, it said, adding that they had been “actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”.

“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area as [a] relentless counter-terrorism campaign under [the] vision [of] ‘Azm-i- Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and -supported terrorism from the country,” the statement concluded.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

Yesterday, a statement issued by the ISPR had said that 14 terrorists had been killed in three separate intelligence-based IBOs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat and Balochistan’s Tank.

Earlier this week, security forces had killed seven terrorists in two separate operations in KP’s North Waziristan district.

President, PM laud forces for successful operation in Kalat

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the security forces for their successful operation against terrorists in Kalat, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

The president, in his statement, said the state of Pakistan was “fully capable of taking enemies of peace to their end at all costs.”

He reiterated that the “resolve of the nation will foil every conspiracy of Fitna al Hindustan.”

In his statement, PM Shehbaz said security forces were “achieving great successes against terrorism under the vision of Azm-e-Istehkam.”

“The nation is united against terrorism and is determined to completely eradicate all forms of this menace from the country,” the report quoted him as saying.