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Pakistan Army major killed by roadside bomb in Gwadar, four militants shot dead in Kalat
The military said Major Wajahat Waheed died leading a clearance operation near Pasni, as it again blamed India for the violence in Balochistan.
Key points
- Major Wajahat Waheed, 34, from Lahore, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Gwadar district.
- Troops killed four militants in an intelligence-based operation in Kalat on 18 October.
- Pakistan's military again described the fighters as "India-backed", a charge India has long rejected.
A Pakistan Army major was killed by a roadside bomb in Balochistan’s Gwadar district, the military said on Monday, as it reported killing four militants in a separate operation in Kalat.
Major Wajahat Waheed, 34, from Lahore, was leading a force on a clearance operation at Shadi Kaur in Pasni tehsil when the improvised explosive device went off, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said. It said he “embraced shahadat”, the term the army uses for soldiers killed in action.
In Kalat district, troops raided militant hideouts in the Jattakabad area on Sunday after intelligence reports. After what ISPR called an intense exchange of fire, four fighters were killed and a large cache of weapons and ammunition was recovered. The military said clearing operations would continue to find any others in the area.
ISPR described the dead men as “India-backed terrorists” and used its label “Fitna al Hindustan”, which Islamabad applies to Baloch separatist groups. India has consistently rejected Pakistan’s accusations that it sponsors militancy in the province. The military’s figures could not be independently confirmed.
The army said its counter-terrorism campaign, Azm-e-Istehkam, approved by the Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan, would continue “at full pace”.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, has seen a long-running insurgency by separatists who accuse Islamabad of exploiting its gas and minerals. Gwadar, home to the Chinese-built deep-sea port, sits at the heart of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and has been a frequent target.
The attacks come as Pakistan also grapples with emergency rule in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tension on its border with Iran, where cross-border trade was suspended over the weekend.