QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to continue operations against militants during a visit Thursday to southwestern Balochistan province, where he condoled with the families of 42 people, mostly security personnel, killed in multiple insurgent attacks this week.
Authorities have responded to the back-to-back attacks by launching operations since Monday, killing at least 54 insurgents, according to the military and local officials.
The escalating violence prompted Sharif to travel to Quetta, the provincial capital, where members of the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army killed at least 42 people in separate attacks since Monday. The violence has raised concerns that separatist groups once considered relatively small are expanding their reach.
The deadliest assault targeted a police post in Balochistan’s Ziarat district on Monday, killing nine police officers. Eighteen other officers abducted during the attack were later shot dead by their captors.
Angered by the killings, relatives of about two dozen police officers staged a sit-in in Quetta alongside the bodies, demanding that authorities bring the attackers to justice.
“The war against terrorism will continue until the last terrorist in Pakistan is eliminated,” Sharif said in televised remarks while chairing a security meeting attended by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti.
Without directly naming India, Sharif said there was “no doubt” that Pakistan’s eastern neighbor was playing a major role in fueling the insurgency by providing militants with weapons, financial support and other assistance. He also alleged that militants were using Afghan territory to launch attacks in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan, adding that the state would thwart what he described as their “nefarious designs.”
There was no immediate response from Kabul and New Delhi, but both have rejected such allegations in the past.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populous province, has long been the scene of a separatist insurgency as well as attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a militant group separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP has grown stronger since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Mourners stand beside the ambulances carrying the coffins of police officers, who were abducted earlier this week and subsequently killed by insurgents, as they hold a sit-in protest against their killing at a roadside in Quetta, Pakistan, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Mourners hold a sit-in protest against the abduction and killing of police officers by insurgents at a roadside in Quetta, Pakistan, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Mourners gather around the ambulances carrying the coffins of police officers, who were abducted earlier this week and subsequently killed by insurgents, as they hold a sit-in protest against their killing at a roadside in Quetta, Pakistan, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
A wildfire that exploded in size in a matter of hours ripped through wide swaths of ranchland in rural Texas, burning structures at a youth camp while forcing evacuations and closing schools Tuesday.
The fire, which began early Monday afternoon, charred more than 78 square miles (200 square kilometers) in less than a day across lightly populated areas in two counties in north central Texas. Fueled by whipping winds along with extremely hot and dry conditions, the Ross Fire jumped creeks and rivers, residents said.
“It just took off way too fast,” said Katie Rochelle, whose fifth-generation family canoe rental business lost its office and repair shop outside Graford. “The wind was going in a tornado motion.”
Her husband, a local firefighter, helped save their home overnight, but she was worried it could go up in flames anytime.
“I don't know how our house survived,” she said. “Now we're waiting and praying. Praying it doesn't get our house. That's all we can do.”
It wasn't immediately known how many structures have burned. Multiple buildings were destroyed at Worth Ranch, a youth camp on the southern edge of the fire, when flames swept through Tuesday. No campers or guests were on the property and all personnel were safely evacuated, according to Scouting America's Longhorn Council, which owns the camp.
Dangerous fire conditions allowed the blaze to shoot up faster than anyone could have imagined, officials with Palo Pinto County’s emergency services district reported. “We’ve thrown everything at this, and we’re still having minimal effect,” Fire Chief Danny Watkins said.
Wildfires have been popping up across the South and the West in recent days as extremely dry conditions persist. A dozen new large fires were reported on Sunday alone, the National Interagency Fire Center said.
Nationwide, there have been more than 50,000 wildfires so far this year, the most over the past 10 years covering the same time period, according to the center.
The National Weather Service warned of a high risk of fast-moving fires in Southern California north of Los Angeles, and a red flag warning was issued through Friday.
Firefighters in Nevada were making progress in slowing a fire that forced thousands to evacuate from Reno over the weekend after flames spread dangerously close to densely populated neighborhoods.
The Hawk Fire has destroyed at least 47 homes across about 23 square miles (60 square kilometers). Authorities in Nevada said on Tuesday that the fire was 27% contained.
The number of people in the Reno area under mandatory evacuation orders dropped significantly to about 5,000. The fire near the California state line began Saturday and rapidly grew in size on Sunday. At least seven people — three first responders and four civilians — were injured.
Fire officials in Reno have blamed human activity for the Hawk Fire, saying it was either intentionally set or accidental. Critical fire weather with hot temperatures and low humidity was expected through the weekend.
In Texas, the Ross Fire was only slightly contained as it churned through ranchland about 60 miles (about 100 kilometers) west of Fort Worth. At least five structures were destroyed, according to officials in Palo Pinto County.
Emergency officials expected the fire to keep growing as temperatures rise.
Rochelle, whose great-grandparents started the canoe rental business in 1969, said the fire also burned a family home built on the property about 100 years ago. Some of the company’s buses and trailers also were destroyed, but the canoes appeared OK for now.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do now,” said her father, Buddy Rochelle.
Authorities opened evacuation centers, some schools canceled classes and ranchers and a livestock commission offered barns to temporarily hold animals in need of evacuation.
This image taken from video shows active wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)
This image taken from video shows plumes of smoke rising from active wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)
This image taken from video shows active wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)
This photo shows Crystal Hallock's property on Aug. 23, 2026, in northwest Reno, Nevada, after the Hawk Fire destroyed her home. (Brenda Means via AP)
This image taken from video shows a charred neighborhood following wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)
