The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), is the largest Balochistan-based separatist group seeking to undermine the Pakistani government, alongside increasing the ethnic Balochis’ autonomy and ownership of the province’s natural resources. Balochistan borders Iran and Afghanistan and is Pakistan’s largest and poorest province. It is home to multiple separatist armed groups and has been a frequent target of deadly attacks. Whilst the group has waged an insurgency for over twenty years, its activities have intensified in recent months. Some experts say this increase in attacks highlight the growing strength of the BLA, noting its increased access to modern weapons.
BLA’s attacks are mainly aimed at the security forces, state infrastructure and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) targets, as the group perceives them to be exploiting the province’s resources at the expense of ethnic Balochis. More recently their target group has expanded to include non-ethnic Balochis working for construction or mining companies in Balochistan. Though, it is important to note that despite BLA’s disapproval towards Chinese economic projects in the area, no Chinese civilians have been reported killed as a result of the violence. Whether or not this is an intentional move by the BLA is not known.
BLA’s media describes their intentions in more detail for example on 6 Sep 2024, the BLA released an 18-minute video on their Telegram channels, aimed at promoting the BLA’s agenda, along with inspiring recruitment. The video justifies the use of violence for the ultimate aim of Balochi independence and consistently references the Chinese belt and Road initiative. It highlights the opinion that the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor is plundering Balochistan’s natural resources, with little gained by the local population. There have also been instances in northern Pakistan of militant groups using video game chat rooms, like PUBG, to discuss their operations and intent.
Since August 2024, there has been a marked increase in the tempo and scale of attacks by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Their operations have become more sophisticated, with increasing civilian and security personnel casualties, particularly in regions such as Gwadar and Turbat.
Notably, the group carried out a number of attacks at the time of Pakistani Independence Day celebrations on 13-14 August 2024, followed by Operation Herof on 25-26 Aug, where BLA launched a co-ordinated assault across Makran to koh-e-Suleman. It was led by BLA’s suicide unit (Majeed Brigade), resulted in the death of over 70 people and coincided with the anniversary of the death of the Baloch nationalist leader, Nawab Akbar Buti.
There are conflicting reports on who the victims were during the August attacks, some media sources claimed the attacks led to civilian deaths, however, others claimed the civilians were members of the Pakistani police/armed forces traveling to work. Officials in the area had noted that, as opposed to killing only members of the police/armed forces, BLA militants simply checked ID cards executing anybody who hailed from Punjab.
Later, on 11 October 2024, 21 Pashtun and Afghan workers were killed in an attack on a coal mine that was believed to have been conducted by the BLA and on 9 November 2024 at least 26 people were killed and more than 60 wounded, including civilians and soldiers, in a suicide bombing at a crowded railway station in Quetta.[4] The Majeed Brigade of the BLA subsequently claimed responsibility for the attack. “This morning, a Fidayee attack was carried out on a Pakistani army unit at Quetta Railway Station as they were returning via Jafar Express after completing a course at the Infantry School.” The BLA ‘Spokesperson’ Jeyand Baloch said.[5]
These are just a few recent examples of BLA attacking infrastructure and targeting Pakistani soldiers, with civilians increasingly being caught in the cross fire. Sources claimed that the heightened Chinese investment in the area has led to this increase in BLA activity, due to concerns that the mineral-rich Balochistan region will be exploited by foreign powers at the expense of locals. As a response to the increased activity, China has started applying pressure to Pakistan to protect its citizens in the region and the Chinese government has vowed to enhance its counter terrorism measures.
Aziz Baloch, an independent security expert in Balochistan said the BLA is keen “to demonstrate that it can demoralize the Pakistani Army and establish itself as the dominant militant group in the province. Pakistani militant groups are believed to have obtained weapons and military equipment left behind by U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. This increased “acquisition of modern weapons has enhanced BLA’s combat capabilities” according to Baloch.
The group has also adopted more lethal tactics used by the both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. These include the use of suicide bombings, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and so-called complex attacks which include multiple attackers and vehicle-borne IEDs.6
The group has also exploited factors such as poverty, high unemployment, alleged abuses by the authorities and political suppression to increase recruitment. This coupled with a feeling that elections in Balochistan are rigged has led to a surge in support for the group. What remains to be seen is whether this support will be maintained as BLA attacks increasingly come with the collateral deaths of the civilians they claim to be fighting for.
1 balochwarna.com, ‘Attacks Disrupt Pakistan Independence Day Celebrations in Balochistan’ (15 August 2024)
2 aljazeera.com, ‘More than 70 killed in multiple armed attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan’ (26 August 2024)
3 dawn.com, ’21 killed, 10 coal mines destroyed in Duki carnage’ (12 October 2024)
4 Aljazeera.com ‘At least 26 killed in railway station bombing in Pakistan’s Quetta’ (9 November 2024)
5 www.eurasiareview.com ‘Pakistan: BLA Blowback in Baluchistan – Analysis
6 www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-balochistan-baluch-liberation-army (1 September 2024)