The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has released a new documentary on the first anniversary of last year’s Operation Herof, with group chief Bashir Zeb Baloch declaring that a second phase of the campaign will mark “the enemy’s downfall and the beginning of Baloch sovereignty.”
The documentary, published on the BLA’s official channel Hakkal, outlines the factors, methods and objectives of Operation Herof, featuring accounts from operational commanders as well as a detailed statement by the group’s chief.
It carried a caption describing Operation Herof as a “decisive military operation against the occupying Pakistani forces” aimed at reclaiming “the liberated status of Baloch land,” and said the offensive was composed of “military drills” intended as preparation for a larger campaign to decide the future of Balochistan.
Bashir Zeb Baloch said that when Operation Herof was launched a year ago, it was not merely an attack but “an inscription carved onto the pages of history, a declaration that this land belongs to us and will always remain ours.”
“We set foot on this soil with the conviction that every drop of our blood is the price of this land’s fertility, freedom and prosperity,” he said.
He described Herof as “not just a demonstration of strength, but a revelation of our spirit, a proclamation of unity, and an exercise in strategy and discipline.”
“We shook the enemy inside its fortresses, deserted its highways, and turned fear into a permanent guest in its dreams,” Bashir Zeb said.
He declared that a year later, the BLA stands at the next turning point in its struggle. “Operation Herof II will be the chapter in our history that writes the downfall of the enemy and the beginning of our sovereignty. We are more prepared, more organized, and more resilient. This war is not only of explosives and bullets, it is a war of determination and willpower, a war of discipline and sacrifice.”
He continued: “We are one body, one voice, one heartbeat. As long as breath remains in our bodies and light remains in our eyes, we will neither stop, nor bow, nor break apart. The day is not far when the enemy’s last flag will be torn from this land, and our soil will crown itself with eternal honour through the blood of its sons.”
Operation Herof I
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the largest and most active “pro-independence” armed group in Balochistan, where the current phase of the Baloch insurgency has been ongoing for more than two decades.
In August 2024, it launched Operation Herof, described by analysts as the largest coordinated armed action in the history of the Baloch insurgency. The group said it carried out simultaneous attacks across 14 districts, taking control of major highways and multiple government installations, including police and Levies stations, while seizing weapons.
One of the major attacks during Herof was carried out by the BLA’s Majeed Brigade, which targeted the Pakistan Army headquarters in Bela. The assault began when Mahal Baloch, the group’s third female suicide bomber, drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the compound, triggering a large explosion and allowing fighters to storm the base and hold it for twenty hours.
The BLA claimed that more than 130 Pakistani personnel were killed in the offensive, while highways from Makuran to Koh-e-Suleiman were cut off. Analysts said the scale and coordination of the attacks showed the group’s ability to combine guerrilla warfare with complex, synchronized operations.
Since the first phase of Operation Herof, the BLA has carried out a series of large-scale, coordinated assaults, including ambushes, blockades, town takeovers and raids on security installations. The group has described these as “military drills” in preparation for a second phase.
BLA chief Bashir Zeb Baloch has now formally declared that this next stage, Operation Herof II, will mark “the enemy’s downfall and the beginning of Baloch sovereignty.”