New details have emerged about the terrorist attack in Kalat on the night between Friday and Saturday revealing multiple civilian deaths and harm to property and infrastructure.

According to a Khabar Kada correspondent, terrorists from the Baloch Liberation Army surrounded the Mangochar area in Kalat, about 110 kilometers from Quetta from all sides and launched an all-out assault. The attack began at 11:45 pm on Friday night. Levies sources said on the condition of anonymity that the attackers ‘numbered in the dozens’ and were armed with Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers, and other weapons.

The centre of the attack was the Mangochar bazaar where a Bank Al-Habib branch was looted and set on fire. Other buildings in the area were also vandalised before the terrorists fled. Videos of the vandalism and arson attacks have also emerged on social media.

According to Levies, the terrorists also set up a roadblock at Khezini on the Quetta-Karachi highway to target passenger vehicles killing at least 17 people and injuring three others. The injured were shifted to CMH Quetta, where they are receiving medical attention.

Deputy Commissioner Kalat Bilal Sher confirmed the attack, adding that there was a prolonged exchange of fire that disrupted traffic on the highway.

According to the ISPR, security forces quickly responded to the reports of the attack and eighteen soldiers were martyred during the action before the attackers were repelled.

The army then launched sanitization operations across the area. ISPR reported that 12 terrorists were killed in one operation in Kalat while 11 more were killed in a separate operation in Harnai. This brought the total number of terrorists killed in the last 24 hours to 23.

ISPR said in a statement that the sanitization operations will continue until the perpetrators are ‘brought to justice’.

At least 685 security personnel were martyred in 444 different terrorist attacks in 2024, which turned out to be the deadliest year in terms of terror attacks in a decade. However, security forces also killed 934 terrorist in intelligence-based operations during the year.