Pakistan military says it concludes week-long fight against Baloch separatists

Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it had concluded a week-long operation against separatists in Balochistan who stormed more than a dozen locations, taking hostages, setting off explosives and waging gun battles with security forces.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, was brought to a virtual standstill on Saturday when the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) launched a coordinated sunrise attack.

Its fighters entered schools, banks, markets and security installations across the region in one of their largest ever operations.

The military said 216 militants were killed in targeted offensives across the troubled southwestern province in the operation which began on January 29, two days before the separatist attacks.

Read more: Reuters