ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces have eliminated 10 Indian-sponsored terrorists during a large-scale sanitisation operation in Zhob district of Balochistan, as part of the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign. According to military media affairs wing, the operation was conducted on 25 February 2026, following an earlier intelligence-based operation in the same district a day earlier in which eight militants were neutralised. During the follow-up action, security forces tracked the fleeing militants across multiple routes and engaged them effectively, resulting in a gun battle that led to the killing of 10 more terrorists linked to the Indian proxy group Fitna al Khwarij. The ISPR said weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the killed militants, who were involved in several terrorist activities in the area. The military said sanitisation operations are continuing to ensure no remaining militants are left in the region. It reiterated that the counter-terrorism drive under Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, approved by the Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan, will continue at full pace to eliminate foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026