Islamabad The government on Saturday said Pakistani security forces have killed at least 88 militants in a major counter-insurgency operation in the restive Balochistan province since July 5.Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said nine terrorists were killed in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of terrorists killed under “Operation Shaban” to 88.“The total number of terrorists killed in Operation Shaban since July 5 has reached 88,” Naqvi said.The ongoing operation involves the Pakistan Army, paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps, with security forces carrying out coordinated ground and air strikes against terrorist hideouts across the province.The operation was launched on July 5 following a wave of coordinated terrorist attacks in Balochistan.The deadliest attack was targeting a police post at Mangi Dam in Ziarat district, where terrorists killed nine police personnel before abducting 18 others. Authorities later recovered the bodies of the abducted policemen from the Zarghoon Gar hill area near Ziarat.The killings sparked outrage and families of the slain officers continued a protest at Koila Fatak Chowk on the outskirts of Quetta. Protesters are demanding justice for the victims and stronger security measures for law enforcement personnel.On Friday, grieving families brought eight of the 18 bodies from Quetta’s Civil Hospital to the protest site and said they would not bury them until the government assured them of justice and better security for police personnel.Violence also occurred in Hanna Urak Valley near Quetta on 5 July, where militants attacked members of a local tribe, killing five, injuring eight others and abducting 11.The kidnapped tribals were rescued on Friday night, prompting their relatives to end a separate protest organized near Quetta’s Airport Road.Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populous province, has been witness to a decades-long insurgency. Ethnic Baluch groups have long accused the federal government of exploiting the province’s vast natural and mineral resources while neglecting local development, periodically provoking violence.