Pakistan deploys helicopters, drones to end standoff with Baloch rebels

Hundreds have been killed in the southwestern Balochistan province amid a surge in rebel attacks.

Pakistan has deployed helicopters and drones to take control of a town in the mineral-rich western province of Balochistan from rebels amid ongoing fighting that has left dozens of security officials and civilians dead.

Police said on Wednesday that they secured the desert town of Nushki after a three-day battle, the Reuters news agency reports. Seven officers were killed in the fighting.

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“More troops were sent to Nushki,” a security official said. “Helicopters and drones were used against the militants.”

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launched a series of attacks in the southwestern province on Saturday, storming banks, schools, markets and security installations across Pakistan’s largest and poorest province.

“I thought the roof and walls of ‍my house were going to blow up,” said Robina Ali, a housewife who lives in the provincial capital of Quetta, near a main administrative building where there was a powerful morning blast.

A senior official told the AFP news agency on Wednesday that “197 terrorists have been killed in the ongoing counterterrorism operations.”

Authorities have imposed security restrictions on the province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, banning public gatherings and demonstrations.

Funerals of some of the victims are due to take place on Wednesday afternoon.

The BLA said on Tuesday it had killed 280 soldiers during what it called its Operation Herof, which BLA leader Bashir Zeb said was a follow-up to coordinated attacks in August 2024 that left at least 74 dead.

Authorities said at least 50 people were killed in the coordinated attacks by the BLA.

Pakistan has been dealing with a separatist movement in Balochistan for decades. Violence has surged in recent years, with armed groups saying they are resisting exploitation in the resource-rich province. The area is rich in coal, gold, copper and gas, which generates revenue for the federal government.

The groups regularly target security forces and have also attacked civilians, including Chinese people working on projects in the area.

In 2025, separatists prompted a two-day siege in which dozens were killed after they attacked a train with hundreds of passengers on board.

“Over the past 12 months, security forces in Balochistan have sent more than 700 terrorists to hell, with around 70 terrorists eliminated in just the last two days alone,” Balochistan’s chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, told reporters on Sunday. “These attacks cannot weaken our resolve against terrorism.”

He accused the fighters of being backed by India and Afghanistan, an allegation which New Delhi and Kabul deny.