# Pakistan's Operation Shaban kills over 100 militants in Balochistan in seven days of air and ground strikes > A joint Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps, and police operation codenamed Operation Shaban entered its seventh day on July 12 in Balochistan, with security sources reporting a cumulative death toll of at least 102 to 109 militants killed; the operation was launched after a terrorist attack in Ziarat district and combines air and ground strikes across the province **Meta:** type: event · date: 2026-07-12 · heads: How Wars Actually End, What Broke · 8 takes · 4 lenses · 2 regions ## Summary Pakistan's military launched Operation Shaban in Balochistan province following a terrorist attack in Ziarat district, deploying the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps Balochistan, and police in combined air and ground strikes. By the seventh day, July 12, Pakistani security sources and state media reported cumulative militant deaths ranging from 71 (Geo News security sources, Operation Shaban alone) to 109 (Radio Pakistan, including concurrent intelligence-based operations). Dawn and Geo News, Pakistan's two most widely read independent outlets, carried differing figures, reflecting state media versus field-sources reporting gaps. ## Why it matters Balochistan is Pakistan's largest and most resource-rich province and the site of a long-running ethnic nationalist and Islamist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives since the 1970s. A seven-day air-and-ground operation with a death toll above 100 is among the largest single-week security actions recorded in the province and comes amid elevated Pakistan-India tensions, with Pakistani military sources claiming some killed militants had India-linked backing. ## What to watch - Independent confirmation of casualty figures, including civilian casualties, which state media have not addressed. - Whether the [Pakistan fights a two-front war as the BLA and TTP strike in tandem](/en/n/pakistan-ttp-bla-two-front-insurgency-2026) dynamics shift after Operation Shaban, particularly for the Baloch Liberation Army. - Pakistani government or ISPR announcement of the operation's conclusion or extension. - Any response from Baloch nationalist political groups or diaspora organisations. ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### Pakistan's leading independent English-language newspaper; cites Radio Pakistan state media for the cumulative toll and distinguishes Operation Shaban from other intelligence-based operations (IBOs) running simultaneously - **Dawn** (Pakistan, en) — Dawn, citing Radio Pakistan, reports the cumulative toll for Operation Shaban and concurrent IBOs in Balochistan has reached 109 since July 5; notes the operation is ongoing and distinguishes between Shaban-specific figures and the broader provincial campaign, the clearest accounting of the dual-track operation in English. > "Total 109 terrorists have been killed in Operation Shaban, other IBOs in the province since July 5, reports Radio Pakistan." Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/2014844/3-more-terrorists-killed-as-operation-shaban-continues-in-balochistan-state-media ### Pakistan's largest independent TV news network; uses 'security sources' rather than state media, reports separately the India-linked framing for some militants killed in Saran Tangai area - **Geo News** (Pakistan, en) — Geo News, citing security sources rather than state media, reported 71 killed specifically under Operation Shaban by July 12 morning, and separately noted Pakistani security forces killed four militants in Saran Tangai whom they described as India-backed, a framing absent from other Pakistani coverage of the same operation. > "71 terrorists have been killed in the operation; four more India-backed terrorists were killed in Balochistan's Saran Tangai area during the ongoing operations." Source: https://www.geo.tv/latest/672710-security-forces-gun-down-more-than-65-terrorists-in-ongoing-operation-shaban-sources ### Rawalpindi-based paper carrying the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release framing; most detailed account of the joint-service command structure - **Daily Pakistan** (Pakistan, en) — Daily Pakistan, reflecting the military's public affairs framing, names all three services in the joint command, identifies the operation as 'continuing successfully' and reports a toll of 71 killed by midday July 12, providing the clearest statement of military structure from an ISPR-adjacent outlet. > "A joint operation by the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan, and police, codenamed Operation Shaban, is continuing successfully." Source: https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/12-Jul-2026/four-more-militants-killed-in-operation-shaban-death-toll-rises-to-71 ### unlabelled - **The Nation** (Pakistan, en) — Source: https://www.nation.com.pk/12-Jul-2026/100-terrorists-killed-ongoing-balochistan-operations - **DID Press** (Central Asia / Pakistan, en) — Source: https://en.didpress.com/34070/ - **Aaj News** (Pakistan, en) — Source: https://english.aaj.tv/news/330463230/7-more-militants-killed-in-balochistan-operation-toll-rises-to-64 - **Aaj News** (Pakistan, en) — Source: https://english.aaj.tv/news/330463249/pakistan-security-operation-operation-shaban-balochistan-update-aaj-news - **Express Tribune** (Pakistan, en) — Source: https://www.tribune.com.pk/story/2617873/five-terrorists-killed-as-operation-shaban-continues-in-balochistan-state-media ## Across the graph - Related: [[pakistan-ttp-bla-two-front-insurgency-2026]], [[balochistan-byc-sentencing-2026]], [[pakistan-dossier]] - Entities: Country:pakistan, Balochistan --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/en/n/pakistan-operation-shaban-jul12