- Bugti announces Rs3b initiative to lay fiber optic cables.
- The project aimed to provide internet while monitoring usage.
- Says 12 terrorists killed during bank robbery bid in Kharan.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Friday expressed concern over internet towers in sparsely populated areas of the province, saying such tools could be misused against the state.
Addressing a pressperson in Quetta, CM Bugti said he was surprised that places like Sangan, where there was hardly any population, had internet towers.
“When I fly over in a helicopter, 4G services are running there. Who set them up and why?” he asked, warning that militants could use them against the state and law enforcement.
The Balochistan Chief Minister also announced a Rs3 billion initiative to lay fiber optic cables across all schools, colleges, universities and hospitals in the province.
The project, he said, aimed to provide internet to people while monitoring its use.
On security issues in the province, Bugti credited the Frontier Corps (FC) with neutralizing 12 terrorists during a recent operation in Kharan town.
The militants were killed while trying to loot banks, he said, adding that around 15 to 20 people tried to enter banks in the city.
CM Bugti noted that a civilian was injured during the operation, who received treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
He added that four terrorists were killed on the spot by law enforcement in three different locations.
The militants tried to break ATMs and flee with cash, while some managed to steal Rs 3.4 million from a bank, he said.
The incidents, he noted, showed how ideology-driven individuals have turned to bank robberies.
CM Bugti’s press comes as the country has witnessed a remarkable rise in terrorist incidents since the Afghan Taliban took over Kabul in 2021.
In 2025, according to the statistics revealed by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the law enforcement agencies of Pakistan conducted 75,175 Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) across the country in which as many as 2,597 terrorists were killed.
