The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) has claimed responsibility for the killing of Noor Bakhsh, a Levies soldier and alleged agent of Pakistan’s military intelligence, whom they accuse of driving a female Baloch schoolteacher, Najma Baloch, to suicide last year.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Major Gwahram Baloch, spokesperson for the BLF, said the group’s fighters targeted and killed Noor Bakhsh on October 11 in Mehrab Bazaar, Gishkor, in Balochistan’s Awaran district. The attack, according to the statement, was carried out based on intelligence provided by the BLF’s intelligence wing. The attackers also seized Noor Bakhsh’s motorcycle and weapon.
The BLF accused Noor Bakhsh of coercing locals in Gishkor Bazaar and surrounding areas into working as informants for Pakistan’s military. The group said that he had pressured Najma Baloch, a local schoolteacher, to collaborate with the military. When she refused, the BLF said she was subjected to severe psychological pressure, leading her to take her own life on May 15, 2023.
According to the BLF, Najma’s family sought justice through Pakistan’s legal system, and Noor Bakhsh was temporarily arrested. However, the group claims he was released a few months later due to the intervention of intelligence agencies and resumed his activities, including harassing the families of Baloch fighters and engaging in other exploitative actions.
“The BLF assures the nation that we will not forgive those responsible for the deaths of our people,” the statement read. “Anyone who betrays the Baloch national movement by collaborating with the enemy will be held accountable sooner or later.”
The BLF called on the Baloch nation to expose individuals like Noor Bakhsh and resist their blackmailing tactics, warning that remaining silent could lead to further tragedies like that of Najma.
The group also called on Baloch people to play an active role in the national movement for Balochistan’s independence, framing their ongoing struggle as one for the “survival, future, and identity” of the Baloch nation.
The statement concluded with the BLF’s acceptance of responsibility for the killing of Noor Bakhsh and a pledge to continue targeting those it describes as “collaborators with the occupying forces of Pakistan until the liberation of Balochistan is achieved.”