Security forces eliminated two “India-backed” terrorists after an attack on government offices in Balochistan’s Mastung district that killed a teenager and injured seven others on Tuesday.

Terrorists in Balochistan, previously engaged in a low-level insurgency, have recently intensified their attacks. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) emerged as a key perpetrator of terrorist violence in Pakistan in 2024.

“Two terrorists were killed while another three were injured in an intense fire exchange between the security forces and the terrorists,” Balochistan spokesperson Shahid Rind said in a statement.

“Fitna al Hindustan attacked the tehsil office, government offices and a bank. A 16-year-old boy died while seven individuals were injured by the terrorists’ firing,” the statement read.

The term “Fitna al Hindu­stan” is a new phrase coined by Pakistan’s military, aimed at framing India’s alleged role in terrorism as a deliberate destabilisation strategy, potentially to galvanise domestic support.

“The Frontier Constabulary, Counter-Terrorism Department and Levies immediately cordoned off the area, crushing the terrorists,” Rind asserted. An intense fire exchange occurred after the security forces “encircled” the terrorists, he added.

Mastung Deputy Commissioner Athar Abbas Raja also confirmed the attack to Dawn.com, adding, “Heavy firing and blasts [were] heard in the small town at around 11am.”

Action against the perpetrators was ongoing while an “organised” clearance operation was also underway at the site of the incident, according to the government statement.

It added that search efforts to trace the facilitators of the attackers had also been initiated. The operation to “protect citizens and arrest terrorists” was based on intelligence input, Rind said.

“The immediate response by the security forces was effective in preventing further loss of lives,” the government official highlighted.

Uptick in terrorism

Militant groups were unable to significantly escalate their activities in the country last month, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, which recorded 85 attacks in May compared to 81 in April.

In one of the recent major attacks, a school bus in Balochistan’s Khuzdar was targeted on May 21, leaving eight children among 10 dead.

In April, three policemen were martyred and at least 16 others were injured as a blast targeted a vehicle of the Balochistan Constabulary on Mastung’s Dasht Road.

Last month, security forces killed two “Indian sponsored terrorists” in Balochistan’s Duki district and another two in Kachhi.

On June 18, a man and a woman were shot dead when unknown gunmen opened fire at them in the Surgaz area, a locality on the outskirts of Mastung town. Another woman and a child sitting in the car were injured in the firing.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

The country ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.

Additional input from Saleem Shahid