Separatists kill 21 including civilians in multiple attacks in Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Separatists from Pakistan's Balochistan province claimed responsibility for nearly a dozen coordinated attacks across southern Pakistan early Saturday that targeted civilians, a high-security prison, police stations and paramilitary installations. Eleven civilians, 10 security personnel and 67 insurgents were killed, authorities said.

Though Baloch separatists and the Pakistani Taliban frequently target security forces in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country, coordinated attacks on this scale are rare. Authorities said at least 108 militants have been killed across Balochistan over the past 48 hours, including 67 on Saturday. Analysts said it was the deadliest single day for militants in decades.

The dead included 11 civilians, among them three women and three children, in the city of Gwadar in Balochistan, police official Ibad Khan said. He said the dead civilians were ethnic Baloch. Khan said police quickly responded to the attack and killed all the attackers.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement that 10 security officers were killed.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, claimed responsibility for the attacks, during which some of the banks were robbed and a police station and dozens of vehicles torched. The BLA released videos showing female fighters taking part in the attacks, apparently part of a propaganda to highlight the role of women among the militants.

Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, said most of the attacks were foiled. They came a day after the military said security forces this week raided two militant hideouts in the country’s southwest, killing 41 insurgents in separate gunbattles.

The provincial chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, wrote on X that security forces were chasing the insurgents. He said at least 700 insurgents were killed by security forces in the past year.

According to Balochistan police and government officials, at least 37 assailants were killed initially and 30 more were traced and shot dead. Earlier Saturday, authorities said that insurgents destroyed rail tracks, prompting Pakistan Railways to suspend train services from Balochistan to other parts of the country.

The attacks began almost simultaneously across the province, provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said. He said two police officers were killed in a grenade attack on a police vehicle in Quetta, the provincial capital. The government declared an emergency at all hospitals.

Dozens of insurgents also attacked a prison in Mastung district, freeing more than 30 inmates, police said. In other attacks, militants attempted to storm the provincial headquarters of paramilitary forces in Nushki district, but the attack was repelled, police said.

Insurgents hurled grenades at the office of a government administrator in Dalbandin district, but a swift response by security forces forced them to flee, according to local authorities. Attacks on security posts in Balincha, Tump and Kharan districts were thwarted, while in Pasni and Gwadar, insurgents attempted to abduct passengers traveling on buses along highways, police said.

The BLA is banned in Pakistan and designated a terrorist organization by the United States. It has been behind numerous attacks in recent years, and Pakistan says the group enjoys the backing from India, a charge New Delhi denies. Pakistan has repeatedly said that Baloch separatists, the Pakistani Taliban and other militants are using Afghan soil to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the claim.

Abdullah Khan, managing director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, told The Associated Press that the “terrorists linked to BLA or other groups had never before been killed in such a large number in a single day” in Balochistan.

Baloch separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have intensified attacks in Pakistan in recent months. The TTP is a separate group but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, who returned to power in August 2021.

Balochistan has long been the site of an insurgency by separatist groups seeking independence from Pakistan’s central government in Islamabad.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan, and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Injured victims of militants attack are treated at an hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Relatives of police officers who were killed in a militants attack, mourn outside a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Hospital workers transport a body of a police officer who was killed in a militants attack, at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Hospital workers transport a body of a police officer who was killed in a militants attack, outside a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Pakistani army soldiers and other security officials examine a site following militants attack with guns and grenades, in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Pakistani army soldiers and other security officials examine a site following militants attack with guns and grenades, in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Pakistani army soldiers and other security officials examine a site following militants attack with guns and grenades, in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid had 40 points and 11 rebounds to help the Philadelphia 76ers win hours after Paul George was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy, 124-114 over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.

The NBA did not disclose the nature of the violation or the substance that was involved, and George released a statement to ESPN saying he took something that was “improper.”

Without George, the 76ers couldn't shake the 13-win Pelicans until the final minutes.

Tyrese Maxey scored 18 points and hit one of his four 3-pointers that gave the Sixers a 117-111 lead and Embiid and VJ Edgecombe followed with consecutive 3s for the 123-113 lead.

Embiid heard “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants as he stepped to the free-throw line with 11.3 seconds left. He sank his first one to hit the 40-point mark.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 19 points and the 76ers hit 17 3-pointers to end the night on a high note after they learned they would have to make a playoff push largely without George.

Saddiq Bey led the Pelicans with 34 points and Zion Williamson had 11.

George was absent as the franchise celebrated the 25th anniversary of Allen Iverson and the 76ers’ improbable run to the NBA Finals. Allen Iverson was in the house and so were many of the featured players and architects of the conference champions such as former team president Pat Croce and general manager Billy King. The 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the NBA Finals.

The Sixers also haven't advanced out of the second round in the East since 2001. George's suspension only pushes the odds that streak extends at least one more season.

Pelicans: At Charlotte on Monday night.

76ers: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

New Orleans Pelicans' Derik Queen, left, drives up the court against Philadelphia 76ers' Dom Barlow, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Allen Iverson, right, is interviewed by former team announcer Marc Zumoff, left, as Philadelphia 76ers honor the 2000-01 76ers team at halftime of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Former Philadelphia 76ers player Allen Iverson looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

New Orleans Pelicans' Karlo Matkovic dunks the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, center right, shoots during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)