Women ‘fidayeens’, IED blasts: How Baloch rebels carried out deadly Pakistan attacks that left over 50 dead
One of the attackers has been identified by the BLA as 24-year-old Asifa Mengal, a resident of Nushki district; identity of the second woman has not yet been officially confirmed
PTC Web Desk: The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks across Pakistan’s Balochistan province, releasing photographs of two women allegedly involved in the violence that left nearly 50 persons dead, including at least 17 security personnel.
One of the attackers has been identified by the BLA as 24-year-old Asifa Mengal, a resident of Nushki district. In a statement, the group said Mengal joined its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, in October 2023 and carried out a suicide strike targeting an alleged Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) facility in Nushki on Saturday.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that at least two of the attacks involved female perpetrators, an unusual and alarming development in the long-running insurgency. The identity of the second woman has not yet been officially confirmed.
A video circulated online shows the unidentified woman attacker alongside armed male militants, mocking the Pakistani state and urging Baloch people to rise against what she described as oppression. Speaking in Balochi, she called on the community to support armed resistance and rejected any possibility of compromise with the government.
In response to the attacks, Pakistani security forces launched large-scale counter-operations that continued for nearly 40 hours. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said more than 140 militants had been killed so far during the operations, adding that authorities had prior intelligence about a possible offensive, which helped prevent militants from taking control of major cities or strategic installations.
According to government officials, attackers disguised as civilians entered public places, including schools, banks, hospitals and markets before opening fire. The assaults began late Friday night and continued through Saturday, with incidents reported from multiple districts such as Nushki, Hub, Chaman, Naseerabad, Gwadar and parts of Makran.
The BLA said the violence marked the second phase of its operation, code-named Herof or “Black Storm,” aimed at security forces across the province. However, the Pakistani military maintained that all attempts by militants to overrun urban centres or sensitive facilities were successfully thwarted.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest yet most underdeveloped province, has witnessed a decades-long insurgency driven by separatist groups demanding greater political autonomy and a larger share of the region’s natural resources. The latest attacks are being described as one of the deadliest flare-ups in recent years, raising fresh concerns over security in the volatile region that borders Afghanistan and Iran.