Senator Kamran Murtaza on Tuesday said the government’s authority in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, had shrunk to just five kilometres, warning that armed groups were now setting up checkpoints outside the city.
Speaking in the Senate, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) leader Kamran Murtaza condemned the killing of lawyer and former BSO Pajjar chairman Advocate Zubair Baloch in Dalbandin and called for a judicial inquiry into the incident.
“Balochistan is burning,” he told lawmakers. “Earlier, the government’s writ in Quetta was limited to just five kilometres, and now even that has shrunk. Outside Quetta city, anyone can set up a checkpoint.”
The senator said women were being killed inside their homes and warned that the Baloch and Pashtun people “will not adorn the state with garlands of flowers” under such conditions. He added that roads in Balochistan were no longer safe for travel, while airfares had risen, leaving people with few alternatives.
Earlier this week, another senior politician, former chief minister and ex-speaker Jan Muhammad Jamali, made similar remarks during the Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) intra-party elections. He said government ministers and parliamentary leaders had stopped travelling by road due to the deteriorating security situation.
“Because of fear, I cannot pass through Bolan,” Jamali said. “Even [Former Senate Chairman] Sadiq Sanjrani cannot cross Nushki, and the situation in Kalat and other areas is also alarming.”
The influence of Baloch “pro-independence” armed groups on highways has grown significantly since the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) launched Operation Herof in August 2024.
Analysts described the offensive as the largest coordinated armed action in the history of the Baloch insurgency, with highways from Makuran to Koh-e-Suleiman cut off and multiple security posts seized.
Since then, armed groups have regularly carried out ambushes, staged roadblocks, set up checkpoints and seized weapons across much of the region. This year, the BLA has claimed armed takeovers of towns including Zehri, Manguchar, Surab and Mastung.
Since August, Zehri tehsil in Khuzdar has remained under the control of Baloch fighters. Pakistani forces have mounted repeated attempts to retake the area over the past month but have failed amid heavy clashes.