PM Sharif to visit Uzbekistan today as Pakistan eyes regional trade and transit hub role

QUETTA: Ten militants were killed and four paramilitary soldiers injured in separate incidents in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces, the military and local administration said on Monday.

Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies in its western provinces that border Afghanistan. One is led my religiously motivated groups, mainly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in KP and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan.

On Monday, Pakistani security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Bagh area of KP’s Khyber district on reported presence of TTP militants that killed 10 insurgents, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.

“Sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other Kharji [TTP militant] found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.

Pakistani authorities brand the Pakistani Taliban, or the TTP, fighters as “khwarij,” a historical reference to an extremist sect in early Islam known for rebelling against authority, declaring other Muslims as apostates, and justifying their killing.

Separately, four Pakistani paramilitary troops were injured in a roadside explosion that appeared to target a convoy of Chinese mining firm MCC Resource Development Limited (MRDL) in Balochistan’s Kalat district, according to Kalat Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shabbir.

The convoy of Saindak-based MRDL was moving goods from Quetta to Karachi when an IED explosion hit the convoy in Mangochar.

“Four soldiers of a Pakistani paramilitary force escorting the convoy and two civilians were injured in the attack,” DC Shabbir told Arab News, adding the area had been cleared.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass, that has long faced an insurgency led by separatist groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), who accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources, such as gold and copper, while neglecting the local population.

The separatists have frequently attacked police and security forces as well as civilians and foreigners they see as “outsiders” in the resource-rich region, where China has been building a deep-sea port in Gwadar on the Arabian Sea and has made huge investments under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Pakistan’s government denies these allegations and says it has prioritized Balochistan’s development through investments in health, education and infrastructure projects.

Violence by Baloch separatist factions, primarily the BLA, killed about 300 people last year, according to official statistics, marking an escalation in the decades-long conflict in Balochistan.

Islamabad has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks in Pakistan’s western regions. Afghan officials deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.

Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its $500 million pledge to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the World Health Organization said on Monday.
The funds, initially pledged in April 2024, will be disbursed to help end the wild form of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan and stop outbreaks of variant polio.
Wild polio — a naturally occurring form of the viral disease — is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which together reported 99 cases last year, according to the WHO. Variant polio is caused by the weakening of the oral polio vaccine.
The GPEI hopes to declare an end to the wild virus and the vaccine-derived variant by 2027 and 2029, respectively, compared with a previous deadline of 2026 for both forms.
The US, which has announced its intention to withdraw from the WHO, was previously a major donor to a program to eliminate polio and contributed 17 percent of its budget during 2024-2025, the WHO data showed.