The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) has claimed responsibility for two attacks targeting Pakistani military positions in Balochistan, including a checkpoint assault in Kharan and the sabotage of communication systems in Kolwah.
In a statement released by the group, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said fighters attacked a Pakistani military checkpoint on Gowash Road in Kharan city on the night of 23 May. The attack began at around 8:00 PM, with multiple rocket-propelled grenades reportedly striking the checkpoint compound.
The BLF said the Pakistani forces responded with indiscriminate fire into surrounding civilian areas, while its fighters “precisely targeted” military positions, claiming to have inflicted both human and material losses.
In a separate incident on 22 May, BLF fighters reportedly sabotaged communication systems in Kolwah’s Sajidi Bazaar area, damaging what they described as “key infrastructure.”
The BLF is one of several armed groups engaged in a long-running insurgency in Balochistan, seeking independence from Pakistan. According to its 2024 annual report, the group carried out 284 attacks last year, including sniper operations, ambushes, grenade assaults, and IED strikes.
The group claims its operations resulted in the deaths of at least 280 Pakistani military personnel, with an additional 167 wounded. It also reported killing 36 alleged collaborators and capturing 14 “enemy personnel.”
The current insurgency in Balochistan, often described as the fifth phase of the Baloch independence movement, has spanned over two decades, making it the longest-running phase of conflict in the region’s history.
Human rights groups have repeatedly documented widespread violations by both state and non-state actors, with the majority of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances attributed to state forces.
In a recent statement, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), another major armed group, called for international support to end the bloodshed in Balochistan. The group said that political, diplomatic, and defence backing from the global community could help “eliminate the terrorist state of Pakistan” and establish an independent Balochistan.
The group said an “independent Balochistan would act as a stabilizing force in the region, permanently stop the export of terrorism to the subcontinent, and initiate a new chapter of peace and prosperity.”
It warned that without international intervention, the conflict could escalate further, resulting in more violence and instability.
“Sooner or later we will destroy this occupying terrorist state and liberate our motherland,” the group said. “However, the longer this process is delayed, the more bloodshed, terrorism and instability the world will have to endure.”