Eight terrorists were killed after security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan‘s Kalat district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday. In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces conducted an IBO in Kalat on Dec 24 (yesterday) on the reported presence of terrorists belonging to Indian proxy Fitna al Hindustan. The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna-al-Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. It said that during the operation, security forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and, after an intense exchange of fire, eight Indian-sponsored terrorists were killed. “Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” ISPR said. It said that a sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorists found in the area, adding that the counterterrorism campaign by security forces and law enforcement agencies would continue at full pace to wipe out “foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”. Earlier this month, 12 terrorists were killed during an IBO in Kalat. In March, Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent as compared to the previous year. In October, the Islamabad-based think tank Centre for Research and Security Studies said that violence had surged in the third quarter of 2025 due to a spike in militant attacks and intensified counter-terrorism operations.