Pakistan’s military media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has claimed that at least 18 civilians, 15 security personnel and 92 alleged attackers were killed during coordinated attacks and subsequent security operations across multiple districts of Balochistan between January 31 and February 1.
In a statement, ISPR said the attacks were reported from Quetta, Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Panjgur, Tump, Gwadar and Pasni, adding that the violence began early on January 31. According to the military, security forces carried out clearance and containment operations in response, during which 92 armed attackers, including three suicide bombers, were killed. The statement also acknowledged the deaths of 15 security personnel in armed clashes.
ISPR further claimed that earlier operations on January 30 in Panjgur and Harnai resulted in the killing of 41 additional armed individuals, bringing the total number of alleged attackers killed over two days to 133. Military officials said “search and sanitisation operations” were ongoing and that investigations were underway to identify those involved in planning and facilitating the attacks. The military spokesperson also alleged that preliminary intelligence assessments indicated “external support” behind the attacks.
However, the military’s claims could not be independently verified, particularly as internet and communication services remain suspended across much of Balochistan. Analysts note that ISPR has not released photographs, names or other verifiable details of the individuals it claims were killed, raising questions about the accuracy and scale of the figures presented. Journalists in Quetta have also been restrited from visiting the city’s hospitals and morgues, where the dead bodies of those slain in the ongoing attacks have been housed, raising further suspicious about the actual death toll.
At the same time, reports emerging from the ground present a markedly different picture. According to local sources, Pakistani forces carried out an assault on a residential compound in the coastal city of Gwadar during BLA’s “Operation Herof”, where labourers were reportedly staying. Residents said the victims belonged to two families from Zehri tehsil. As a result of the attack, at least 12 people, including women and children, were killed, while around 10 others were injured.
Those killed reportedly included Noor Muhammad Faqir Zehri s/o Mullah Jorak his son Ghulam Yaseen, another adult male, four women and five children. Most of the injured were said to be women and children.
Separately, reports from Turbat said that Pakistani forces fired mortar shells into a civilian area in Phulabad, killing a 15-year-old boy identifed as Anas Baloch s/o Ibrahim, and critically injuring a five-year-old child and two women. Residents alleged that following the shelling, security forces began demolishing houses in the area.
The Baloch “pro-independence” group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) earlier announced the launch of the second phase of its “Operation Herof,” claiming coordinated attacks in 14 districts, including Quetta and Gwadar. The group has confirmed the deaths of seven of its members and claimed that 84 security personnel were killed and 18 captured during more than 15 hours of fighting.
Security observers and human rights advocates argue that the information blackout has made it impossible to accurately assess the situation on the ground. Some analysts have pointed out that similar claims by ISPR in the past were later followed by the killing of previously missing Baloch individuals in what rights groups described as “staged encounters”, with victims subsequently labelled as attackers.
Given the absence of independent access, shutdown of internet services and lack of verifiable evidence, analysts say official casualty figures should be treated with caution. They argue that the conflicting narratives highlight the growing gap between official statements and accounts from affected communities, as the security situation across Balochistan remains tense and fluid.