Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said that due to the geography of Balochistan, there is a need to deploy large-scale military personnel there. He said that these people have a political rather than nationalist identity, the movement is basically being launched to compensate for business losses, these people were earning four billion rupees daily from oil smuggling. The Defense Minister said that ‘criminals in the name of BLA are providing protection to these smugglers, a nexus of tribal elders, bureaucracy and separatist movement leaders has been formed in Balochistan. Khawaja Asif said that during the last round of operations in Balochistan, 177 terrorists were killed, 16 security forces and 33 civilians were martyred. He said that due to the geography of Balochistan, there is a need to deploy large-scale military personnel there.

Source: The Patriot February 02, 2026 15:40 UTC