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PARIS: Malnutrition can cause its own form of diabetes, health experts said Thursday, calling for “type 5 diabetes” to be recognized globally to help fight the disease in countries already struggling with poverty and starvation.

The most common form of diabetes, type 2, can be caused by obesity and occurs when adults become resistant to the hormone insulin. Type 1, mostly diagnosed in childhood, arises when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.

But diabetes researchers have been tracking another form of the disease, which often appears in people aged under 30. It also affects insulin production but is less severe than type 1.

And rather than being linked to being overweight or obese like type 2, it affects people who are underweight because they do not eat enough.

A paper published in medical journal The Lancet Global Health shows that more than 25 million people suffer from this “type 5 diabetes,” mostly in developing countries.

“We call upon the international diabetes community to recognize this distinct form of the disease,” the authors wrote, reflecting a consensus reached by the International Diabetes Federation earlier this year.

The experts settled on calling this form of diabetes type 5, though types 3 and 4 have not been officially recognized.

Diabetes driven by malnutrition is not a new discovery — in the 1980s and 1990s, the World Health Organization classified a form of “malnutrition-related diabetes.”

But the UN agency abandoned this classification in 1999 due to a lack of agreement among experts about whether undernourishment alone was enough to cause diabetes.

Since then, numerous studies in countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Uganda, Pakistan and Rwanda have indicated that this is possible.

The exact link between malnutrition and this strand of diabetes remains unknown. The efficacy of existing diabetes treatments that do not focus on weight loss on type 5 is also unclear.

The best way to fight the disease involves supporting programs already working to combat poverty and hunger, the authors of the paper said.

This includes giving people access to “low-cost, energy-dense staple foods high in protein and complex carbohydrates” such as lentils, legumes, oil-enriched cereals and fortified grains, they added.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed four militants in the country’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, the military’s media wing said on Thursday, after an intelligence-based raid on their hideout.

Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is strategically important for its mineral wealth and as a transit hub for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, it has long been racked by a separatist insurgency, with groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) stepping up attacks in recent years.

Islamabad says these militants are backed by Indian intelligence, branding them “Fitna-e-Hindustan,” or India’s mischief, a charge New Delhi denies.

“On 17 September 2025, security forces conducted an intelligence based operation in Khuzdar District of Balochistan, on reported presence of terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Hindustan,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

“During the conduct of operation, own forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, and after an intense fire exchange, four Indian sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” it added.

The military said weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the militants, who were involved in multiple attacks in the area.

A “sanitization operation” was also underway to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area, it added, vowing to eradicate militant violence and bring those responsible to justice.

Separatist militant groups in Balochistan accuse Pakistan of depriving the province’s locals of a share in its natural resources, allegations which Islamabad denies. 

The province has witnessed a string of high-profile attacks this year. In March, the BLA hijacked a passenger train, and in May, a suicide bombing in Khuzdar killed several children after targeting their school bus.

Security forces, civilians and non-local workers are frequently targeted, and authorities have relied on intelligence-based operations rather than launching a full-scale military campaign.