Pakistan PM approves military operation against separatists

Pakistan Prime Minster Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday approved a military operation against armed separatists operating in the country's southwest after their latest attack killed 26 people at a train station. 

The PM met with the government's security committee in Islamabad before he announced the "operation against terrorist organizations" in Balochistan. 

The announcement comes after at least 26 people were killed, mostly soldiers, in a bomb attack conducted by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) at a train station on November 9. 

In a statement, Sharif's office said the BLA and other groups would be targeted but didn't say when the operation would begin. The office blamed the groups for “targeting innocent civilians and foreign nationals to scuttle Pakistan’s economic progress by creating insecurity at the behest of hostile external powers."

The intended operation comes as violence in Balochistan in the southwest and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest has surged over the last few months. 

In the northwest, at least 10 soldiers were killed in a bomb attack, an intelligence source told the AFP news agency. It was claimed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur group. 

The attack came hours after clashes were reported between Pakistani soldiers and members of Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) in the same region, killing eight soldiers and nine TTP members. 

Pakistan has said Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the TTP have their base of operations inside Afghanistan, causing long-term tensions with the neighboring country's leadership. The Taliban in Afghanistan deny the allegations. 

In the southwest, the BLA has primarily targeted soldiers and foreign nationals working in the region, mostly Chinese employees. The group accuses Pakistan, as well as China, of exploiting the area. It seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan's southwest and bordering on Afghanistan and Iran.