More than 120 dead after multiple suicide and gun attacks in Pakistan, officials say

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/01/dozens-killed-multiple-attacks-pakistan

15 Comments

  1. Polyethylenglykol on

    “Eighteen civilians, 15 security personnel and 92 insurgents were killed” the military said.
    I’m trying to wrap my head around these numbers, that seems like such an unheard of ratio to attackers vs victims.
    You usually hear of 1-2 attackers having a higher number of victims, not the other way around.

  2. > Pakistan’s military said on Saturday that multiple suicide and gun attacks by “terrorists” across the restive south-western province of Balochistan killed 33 people, including civilians, while security forces responding to the violence killed 92 assailants.

    > Analysts described it as the deadliest single day for militants in decades.

    > During the attacks, Baloch insurgents targeted civilians, a high-security prison, police stations and paramilitary installations. Eighteen civilians, 15 security personnel and 92 insurgents were killed, the military said.

    > Though Baloch separatists and the Pakistani Taliban frequently target security forces in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country, coordinated attacks on this scale are rare. Authorities said at least 133 militants have been killed across Balochistan over the past 48 hours, including 92 on Saturday.

    > The military and Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said the attackers had the backing of India.

    No surprise they would blame India here. They would blame India either way.

    Also of note: Within this short quote, the attackers are described as Terrorists, Baloch Insurgents and Baloch Separatists. It’s as if the author was trying to cover all their bases and demonstrates how word choice matters.

  3. Tough_Oven_7890 on

    Soon there will be news from Pakistan saying, **“India is behind this.”**

    With all these terrorist activities, it’s always civilians who die, while politicians just blame other countries to gain votes.

  4. Empty_Put_1542 on

    Serious question: what’s up with that whole geographical region? I know people kill each other everywhere, it just seems like a lot over in that region of earth.

  5. The Pakistani state’s writ does not exist in most parts of Balochistan and Pashtunistan / Khyber-Pakthunwa regions. Even their military and law enforcements centers have been hit regularly for the last 3 years.

  6. FrontPreference6623 on

    Pakistan rears them up in hopes of attacking India, but it blew up in their faces instead.

    Pakistan has a decade-long strategy of “bleeding India with a thousand cuts”, but so far, this strategy has been bleeding Pakistan with a thousand cuts. This is every other day for Pakistan. The numbers of these attacks is astronomical to a point where its not even recorded unless its a major event, like this, where they also robbed banks, attacked prisons, police stations etc etc.

    The best thing India can do against such a terrorist state, is consolidate the border like crazy, even more so then now and repeat with Bangladesh and Nepal, Pakistan is trying to spread its terror there too.

    Now that they’ve broken up with another one of their sponsored terrorists; the Taliban, they’re going to feel a tsunami of karma and they already are.

  7. Worth reading the headline math carefully: the “120+” figure appears to include a large number of attackers killed in the security response, not just civilians. Still horrific either way—because it shows (1) how coordinated this was across multiple districts in Balochistan, and (2) how quickly it can spiral into a wider escalation when officials start pointing fingers externally.

    Also, this looks more like the long-running Baloch separatist insurgency (BLA claiming responsibility) than the usual “lone extremist” framing people default to. If this becomes a sustained campaign—rail lines hit, prisons targeted, attempted abductions on highways—that’s a different level of instability than a single blast.

    Big question going forward: does Islamabad treat this as a policing problem, a counterinsurgency problem, or a regional proxy problem? The answer changes what the next month looks like.