Zhob District


Zhob District is a district in the northwestern part of Balochistan province of Pakistan. The population of Zhob District was estimated at 355,692 in 2023. Water from Zhob River is used for irrigation in the district.

Administration

The 1998 census report lists two sub-divisions: Lower Zhob and Kakar Khurasan. A government webpage lists these as Ashwat, Qamar Din Karez, Sambaza and Zhob, without indicating if any of them are sub-tehsils.
TehsilArea
Pop.
Density
Literacy rate
Union Councils
Qamar Din Karez Tehsil...............
Zhob Tehsil9,322284,62030.5341.27%...
Ashwat Tehsil90125,09427.8514.51%...
Kashatu Tehsil1,5905,8103.659.64%...
Sambaza Tehsil2,88825,1508.7121.65%...

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, Zhob district has 47,901 households and a population of 355,692. The district has a sex ratio of 117.57 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 36.62%: 45.24% for males and 26.81% for females. 159,100 are under 10 years of age. 46,976 live in urban areas. 1,732 are religious minorities, mainly Christians and some Hindus.
At the time of the 2023 census, 97.65% of the population spoke Pashto and 1.49% Saraiki as their first language.
The majority of the population of Zhob district is Pashtun. The tribes of Zhob district include the Mandokhail, Khosti, Sherani, Kakar, Sulaimankhel, Harifal, Lawoon and Babar. A large number of IDPs were settled within the confines of the district as part of the evacuation from Operation Zarb-e-Azb that took place to the north of Zhob.

Military activity

On 30 October 2024, Pakistan's security forces killed a member of the TTP and injured another during an intelligence-based operation in Sambaza, recovering weapons and ammunition. The action was followed by a "sanitization operation" in the area. On 10 December, 15 militants and a Pakistan Army soldier were killed during an engagement in the district.
In January 2025, the forces killed an Afghan national in the district having links to terrorism on the 11th and eliminated six TTP militants crossing across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on the 23rd. On 8 August, 33 members of the TTP, which the ISPR describes as Fitna al Khwarij, were killed by the security forces as they tried to cross into Sambaza across the border. The forces also recovered a cache of arms, explosives, and ammunition.