Militants attacked a police post guarding the Mangi dam project in Ziarat district, Balochistan, on the evening of July 6, killing nine policemen, including two officers, and abducting eight others who were later recovered by security forces [1, 2, 3]. Following the attack, clearing operations by security forces killed 15 militants linked to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) [1, 3, 4].
On July 8, another clash occurred in Lasbella district where militants had blockaded a major highway. This fight resulted in the deaths of 11 security personnel and 19 militants [5, 4]. Over the four days from July 6 to July 9, total fatalities from multiple operations and attacks in Balochistan reached 38 security personnel—including 27 police officers and 11 army troops—four civilians, and 54 militants [6, 4].
The Pakistan military accused "many Afghans" and alleged involvement from India and Afghanistan in supporting the militants behind the attacks [6, 4]. Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry stated, "We will chase you, we will hurt you. We will take on each and every terrorist, their facilitators, those who harbour them, those who nourish them and those who provide them bases, wherever they are located" [6].
Security officials described the clearance operation after the Mangi dam attack as intense; spokesman Shahid Rind said, "In a counter security operation, at least 15 terrorists have been killed, while nine policemen including two officers embraced shahadat (martyrdom)" [3].
Some sources report differences on the number of police officers killed in the initial Mangi dam attack and total security force deaths over the period. While multiple sources confirm nine police deaths in the first attack and 15 militants killed in the clearance, others say 38 security personnel died during the four-day clashes including 27 police and 11 soldiers[s1,s4,s5 versus s2,s7].
The attacks and military operations remain active with no new incident reports since July 9.
