Based on the South Asia Counter Terrorism Portal (SATP), India

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), in 34 BLA-linked incidents recorded in 2024, at least 97 persons, including 17 civilians, 59 SF personnel and 21 militants, have been killed (data till July 14, 2024). During the corresponding period of 2023, 20 such incidents resulted in 46 fatalities, including five civilians, 39 SF personnel and two militants. The whole of 2023 recorded 39 incidents in which 77 persons were killed, including 19 civilians, 50 SF personnel and eight militants. 

During the corresponding period in 2023, 20 such incidents resulted in 46 deaths, including five civilians, 39 military personnel and two militants. In all of 2023, 39 incidents were reported, resulting in 77 deaths, including 19 civilians, 50 military personnel and eight militants.

Since 1 August 2004, when the SATP recorded its first BLA-related incident, at least 755 people have been killed, including 211 civilians, 330 military personnel, 194 militants and 20 unspecified persons (as of 14 July 2024).  

On 1 August 2004, five servicemen and a civilian were killed when BLA supporters were firing on security forces vehicles in Khuzdar district.

Meanwhile, on July 5, 2024, the BLA on its official media channel Hakkal stated that in the past six months, insurgents carried out 95 attacks in 43 districts, resulting in 253 troops killed, 100 troops injured and around 20 weapons captured. In addition, the BLA "arrested" 39 military personnel. During this period, the BLA captured five security force camps.

The report also claims that over six months, BLA operations resulted in the death of 20 Pakistan Army personnel and the destruction of 23 vehicles and 14 military installations.

Previously, on January 5, 2024, in its annual operational report published on Hakkal, the BLA described a series of attacks and operations carried out throughout 2023.

 

According to the report, the BLA carried out 247 attacks against security forces, including nine special operations and two suicide missions. The organization said the attacks killed at least 171 troops and wounded 251 others. In addition, the BLA said it had eliminated 42 people identified as collaborators or informants. The report also claims the BLA inflicted material damage on security forces, including the destruction of 99 vehicles and motorcycles, as well as attacks on 23 military installations and four drones.

Comprised mostly of Marri and Bugti tribe members, BLA was formed in response to the growing resentment in Balochistan over the continuous Government exploitation of the province’s natural resources and the neglect of development and welfare. 

The group has about 6,000 cadre spread across Balochistan and in the bordering areas of Afghanistan. It is currently led by Hyrbyair Marri who is in exile in London. Bashir Zeb Baloch is the ‘commander-in-chief’ of the outfit.

BLA is the only Baloch groups with a dedicated suicide squad, the Majeed Brigade. The Majeed Brigade is named after two brothers, Majeed Langove Senior and Majeed Langove Junior, who carried out suicide attacks in August 1974 and March 2010, respectively. 

Majeed Langove  Senior tried to assassinate then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto when he was on an official visit to Quetta. He wanted to the Prime Minister for his dismissal of the National Awami Party’s government in Balochistan, but Majeed Senior lost his life during the operation. 

Majeed Junior ‘sacrificed’ himself to save his associates when SFs raided the house where they were staying in Quetta’s Wahdat Colony. Majeed Junior held back the SF raiders to give his associates time to escape. Following Majeed Junior’s death, a BLA leader, Aslam Achu, established the insurgent group’s suicide squad, and named it the Majeed Brigade, currently led by Hammal Rehan Baloch. 

The Brigade carried out its first vehicle-borne suicide attack on December 30, 2011, when Baaz Khan Marri targeted tribal elder Shafiq Mengal, son of former acting Chief Minister and Federal Minister Naseer Mengal, on the Arbab Karam Khan Road in Quetta. Shafeeq, who had run a ‘death squad’ targeting Baloch insurgents in different parts of the province, escaped unhurt, but 14 persons, including women and children, were killed, and 35 others were injured.

Some of the major attacks carried out by the Majeed Brigade in 2024 included:

March 25: Majeed Brigade attacked the PNS Siddique naval air base in Turbat town of Kech district and claimed that more than 30 soldiers were killed. The army, however, said it foiled the attack and killed four BLA supporters, while one soldier was killed.

March 20: Majeed Brigade attacked the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) compound in Gwadar City (Gwadar District) and killed two soldiers. Security forces, however, said they foiled the attack and killed eight BLA supporters.

29 January: nine BLA supporters, four railway policemen and two civilians were killed, while four others, including two from the security forces and one child, were injured when the Majeed Brigade launched three coordinated attacks on the Frontier Corps headquarters , railway station and district jail in Mach town of Kachhi district. BLA "spokesman" Jeeyand Baloch said that it was a joint attack in coordination with other groups and BLA insurgents controlled the town of Mach and surrounding areas for over 72 hours.

Other BLA attacks during this period include:

On July 9, 2024, four Army soldiers were killed and another three sustained injuries when Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) cadres attacked a military convoy on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route in Sami area of Kech District. BLA ‘spokesperson’ Jeeyand Baloch issued a statement to the media and claimed responsibility for the attack.

On July 6, 2024, two Policeman sustained injuries when BLA cadres targeted them with a remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) near the Excise Office on Sariab Road in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. Jeeyand Baloch claimed responsibility for the attack.

On July 6, 2024, BLA cadres killed Abid, son of Pir Bakhsh, in the Koshk area of Buleda tehsil (revenue unit) in Kech District. While claiming responsibility for the killing, Jeeyand Baloch claimed Abid was working as an informant for Pakistan’s Military Intelligence.

On July 6, 2024, one soldier was killed and another sustained injuries when BLA cadres planted explosives in a bunker used by Security Forces (SFs) in the Margat area of Bolan District. While claiming responsibility for the attack, Jeeyand Baloch asserted that BLA cadres planted explosives in an empty bunker and detonated it using a remote-controlled IED when the two soldiers entered the bunker.

On June 26, 2024, one soldier was killed in a BLA sniper attack in the Pagnzan area of Zamuran tehsil in Kech District. BLA claimed responsibility for the attack.

On July 6, 2024, one soldier was killed and another sustained injuries when BLA cadres planted explosives in a bunker used by Security Forces (SFs) in the Margat area of Bolan District. While claiming responsibility for the attack, Jeeyand Baloch asserted that BLA cadres planted explosives in an empty bunker and detonated it using a remote-controlled IED when the two soldiers entered the bunker.

On June 26, 2024, one soldier was killed in a BLA sniper attack in the Pagnzan area of Zamuran tehsil in Kech District. BLA claimed responsibility for the attack.

On June 24, 2024, at least 11 soldiers were killed and an unspecified number sustained injuries when BLA cadres attacked a military camp in the Iskalko area of Kalat District. BLA claimed responsibility for the attack. Jeeyand Baloch disclosed that the attack began at 10:30pm in the night of June 24, in which BLA’s Fateh Squad and Special Tactical Operations Squad launched coordinated rocket and heavy weapon attacks on the SFs from multiple directions.

Notably, in response to the Pakistani military's new counter-terrorism operation Azm-e-Istehkam (Commitment to Stability), launched on June 22, 2024, BRAS, the umbrella organization of Baloch independence groups led by the BLA, launched a statement against the Pakistan Army's military campaign.

In a press release, "BRAS spokesperson" Baloch Khan condemned the operation as a blatant escalation of the ongoing "genocide" against the Baloch people. Baloch Khan said that the operation, which, according to the official description, is aimed at stabilizing and ensuring the security of Pakistan, is just a pretext for escalating military aggression in Balochistan. He assured that BRAS and its allied organizations are ready to defend their land and people from any form of military action, promising to defeat the “invading” forces.