Five drones destroyed in Kharan; policeman martyred in Bajaur attack

Security forces destroyed five drones that terrorists launched at a checkpost in Balochistan’s Kharan district, while a policeman was martyred when terrorists attacked a police post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, according to reports by The Express Tribune and Dawn on Friday.

Kharan: five drones shot down

Radio Pakistan, citing security sources, said terrorists belonging to what the state calls Fitna al-Hindustan tried to hit a checkpost in the Albat area of Kharan using low-grade drones. The sources said the security forces responded in time and destroyed all five drones before they reached their targets. No casualties were reported. The federal government last year designated all terrorist groups operating in Balochistan as Fitna al-Hindustan, accusing India of sponsoring them. The details of this attack come only from security sources.

Last week, 20 trainee police personnel were abducted by unidentified armed men while travelling between Kalat and Mastung. They came from Kharan, Nushki, Chagai and Washuk, including eight from Kharan, five from Nushki, four from Chagai and three from Washuk. The Tribune’s report does not say whether they have been recovered.

Bajaur: policeman martyred

In Bajaur, the attack on the Silai Pati police post, in the remote Barang tehsil bordering Malakand district, took place late on Thursday night. District police spokesperson Mansoor Khan told Dawn that a group of Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists targeted the post, and the police personnel “retaliated bravely”. Fitna al-Khawarij is the term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. One police officer was martyred after resisting, Khan said, and the attackers fled after the response from the personnel at the post.

Funeral prayers were held at the Police Lines in Khar and were attended by Deputy Commissioner Adnan Farid Afridi, District Police Officer Khan Zeb Mohmand, elders and a large number of officials and local activists, before the body was sent to Barang for burial. On Thursday the district administration banned pillion riding for 10 days under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, citing intelligence agencies’ reports and the security situation. A 15-day ban had been imposed on September 5.

The wider picture

The two incidents come amid a rise in violence. A recent report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) found that violence-linked deaths in Pakistan rose by 83 per cent in the third quarter of 2026, reversing a fall in the first two quarters. Balochistan and KP together accounted for 98 per cent of all deaths, with Balochistan recording 829 deaths, nearly 59 per cent of the national total, and KP 556, more than 39 per cent. Separately, data from the monitoring group ACLED show attacks in Pakistan rising almost fourfold to 2,425 in 2025 from 658 in 2022, and TTP attacks rising more than sevenfold from 118 to 838 over the same period.

The government’s response has been to press operations; the Interior Ministry told the National Assembly this week that security forces had killed 2,410 terrorists in 5,143 intelligence-based operations in the first nine months of the year, as we reported in the Interior Ministry’s figures on terrorists killed. Our report on ISPR’s account of nine terrorists killed in Kachhi and Wadh shows operations continuing in Balochistan.

Why it matters

The use of drones by militant groups marks a shift in tactics, because it lets them strike a checkpost from a distance without sending fighters into range. The report does not say how the security forces brought the five drones down, and no independent account is available. The Bajaur attack shows that police posts, which have fewer weapons than army units, remain a target. For people living near these posts, the immediate effects are restrictions such as the ban on pillion riding. What to watch next is whether the abducted trainee police are freed, and whether the sharp rise in deaths recorded in the third quarter continues into the final quarter of the year.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune and Dawn.