Three statements in three days from the Punjab CM cover 15 militants killed in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 23 hostages freed on the N-25.
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif issued a series of statements between Friday and Sunday on security operations in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, praising security forces for killing five militants and safely recovering 23 hostages near Kalat on the Chaman-Karachi N-25 highway.
She separately condemned a suicide attack at the Police Lines in Kohat and paid tribute to police personnel and civilians killed in the blast, and commended operations in Hangu and North Waziristan in which 10 militants were killed.
The statements were issued from Lahore and carried no independent casualty verification from the provincial government, which has no operational jurisdiction in either theatre.
The chief minister on Sunday expressed appreciation for what she described as a successful operation against terrorists near Kalat on the Chaman-Karachi N-25 highway, paying tribute to security forces for killing five militants and safely recovering 23 hostages. The N-25 has been a repeated flashpoint in which the Pakistan security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the same district earlier this month in which 12 militants were killed.
Two days earlier, on Friday, she paid tribute to security forces for killing 10 militants during operations in Hangu and North Waziristan, and paid homage to personnel martyred while fighting militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She expressed condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families, praised the role of the forces in combating militancy and acknowledged the sacrifices of those who lost their lives in the line of duty.
The operations form part of a broader tempo of action in the province, where 21 militants were reported killed in early September, and in Balochistan, where 11 were killed in Kharan and Washuk.
Also on September 18, the chief minister strongly condemned the suicide attack at the Police Lines in Kohat, paying tribute to the police personnel and civilians martyred in the bomb blast, expressing sympathy with the bereaved families and praying for the speedy recovery of the injured.
According to the source, Police accounts put the toll at 21 killed — 15 police personnel and six civilians — with more than 100 injured, after an explosives-laden vehicle was detonated near a mosque inside the Old Police Lines during Friday prayers and gunmen attempted to storm the compound; KP Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed said the bomber rammed the vehicle into the gate. Six attackers, including the bomber and a sniper, were reported killed in the exchange of fire.
The Punjab government has repeatedly issued such statements in recent weeks, including after operations in Chagai and Pishin and a foiled infiltration attempt on the Pak-Afghan border. Punjab itself has tightened restrictions in response to threat assessments, with Section 144 imposed province-wide in mid-September.
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