Two “pro-independence” Baloch armed groups, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks targeting Pakistani security forces, alleged military collaborators, and infrastructure linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) across several districts of Balochistan.
In a statement issued Thursday, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the group’s fighters had “neutralised” Zubair Abid, described as a key operative of a “military-backed death squad,” in the Malikabad area of Kech district’s Tump region on Wednesday night.
“Freedom fighters raided the hideout and neutralised Zubair Abid,” the statement said. “They also seized his weapon, motorcycle and other equipment.”
The BLA accused Abid and his brother Saeed of running an armed gang that assisted the Pakistani military in “targeted killings, house raids, and road blockades” across Tump, Dazin and Gomazi.
The group also alleged the gang had “blackmailed women to become informants” and was involved in “robbery, drug trafficking, and extortion under military protection.”
“In return for these Baloch-genocidal acts, the enemy army granted this gang impunity,” the statement said. “Our fighters have now brought Zubair to his logical conclusion.”
In a separate operation, the BLA said it established a road blockade on the Gandawa–Dhadar highway in Bolan district for three hours on Wednesday night. Vehicles were reportedly stopped and searched during the blockade before fighters withdrew from the area.
Meanwhile, the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) claimed responsibility for an attack on security personnel guarding a road construction site in the Malaar area of Awaran district on Thursday.
BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said the group’s fighters used “heavy weaponry” in the assault, inflicting “human and material losses” on the Pakistani forces assigned to protect the site.
The BLF described the construction as part of a broader policy to “militarize and exploit Balochistan.”
“Across Balochistan, the colonizers are constructing roads under the guise of development to facilitate the movement of their forces and accelerate the plundering of local resources,” the statement said.
The group cited the Hoshab–Awaran section of the M8 highway as part of this “exploitative policy,” claiming that roadwork in the region had led to forced disappearances and mass displacement of villages.
“We will continue to target the occupying state’s forces and economic interests until Balochistan is free,” the statement added.