33 killed in Balochistan operations since 21 September, 11 in Nushki on Friday: ISPR

Update, Friday 25 September 2026, 10:45pm PKT: ISPR now puts the number of militants killed in Balochistan since 21 September at 33. Two new actions take the total up from 19:

• Thursday 24 September: five more killed in the continuing clearance operation at Shaban, district Quetta, after an exchange of fire, ISPR said.
• Friday 25 September: 11 killed in an intelligence-based operation in district Nushki, west of Quetta.

Weapons, ammunition and explosives were again recovered, according to Radio Pakistan's report of the ISPR statement. ISPR said operations would continue until the threat in the area is neutralised. President Asif Ali Zardari praised the forces, Dawn reported.

Earlier, 23 September: Security forces have killed 19 militants in Balochistan in operations running since Sunday, the military's media wing said on Wednesday. Subedar Muhammad Jamil, 39, was killed in an exchange of fire.

The larger of the actions is a clearance operation in the general area of Shaban, district Quetta, which ISPR says has been under way since 21 September 2026 and has accounted for 13 of the dead. A further six were killed in separate operations in district Kech and Quetta West on 22 and 23 September.

Weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from hideouts cleared during the operations. ISPR attributed the militants to what it calls Fitna Al Khawarij and Fitna Al Hindustan, and described them as Indian-sponsored.

Where this sits

Shaban is in the belt north of Quetta city where clearance operations have been repeated through the year. Kech, on the Makran side near the Iranian border, is the other district that recurs: it sits on the smuggling and crossing routes that run west, and operations there are usually about interdiction rather than a set-piece battle.

A clearance operation is not a single raid. Forces cordon an area and work through it over days, which is why the Shaban figure has climbed since Sunday rather than arriving all at once. Expect the number to be revised as the cordon is worked.

ISPR said the campaign, conducted under the Azm-e-Istehkam framework, would continue.

What it changes for readers

Little, directly, unless you are travelling. Two practical notes:

• The N-25 (Quetta to Karachi) and the routes north of Quetta carry checkpoints during active operations, and journey times lengthen without notice. Build in the delay rather than the schedule.
• Mobile service is intermittently suspended in districts under operation. If you have family in Kech, Nushki or the Quetta districts, an unanswered phone is more often a network suspension than an emergency.

Separately, PTI has postponed its Islamabad march to 4 October; the latest on road closures and phone services is in our live report.

Claims about casualty figures on either side of an operation cannot be independently verified from outside the cordon. The numbers here are ISPR's, reported as such.