The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), a “pro-independence” armed group, said on Thursday that its fighters killed 24 Pakistani military personnel in four coordinated attacks carried out on 14 January in Awaran, Tump, Ormara and Mashkay areas of Balochistan.
In a statement, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said fighters detonated a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) targeting a pickup vehicle belonging to a military convoy near Ghulam Muhammad Bazaar in Awaran’s Pirandar area at around 4pm.
He said the blast “killed all 12 personnel aboard” and “completely destroyed the vehicle,” adding that video footage of the attack had been recorded and would be released on the group’s media channel.
According to the statement, BLF fighters carried out a second attack earlier the same day in Tump’s Nazarabad area, where they targeted Pakistani forces who had “set up covert checkpoints” on multiple routes.
The group said four personnel were killed and two injured in the attack. It added that Pakistani forces were reinforced by ground troops, air support and drones, but BLF fighters “withdrew safely”.
In a third operation on 14 January, BLF said its fighters established a roadblock on the Coastal Highway at Kowari, between Ormara and Pasni, where they searched vehicles and later attacked a nearby police post.
The statement said the post was “temporarily captured” and weapons were seized.
BLF said an incoming Frontier Corps convoy sent for reinforcement was then ambushed with light-machine guns and rockets. One FC vehicle “was hit with a rocket and crashed, killing six personnel,” the group said.
It said two more personnel were killed and several were injured in the pursuit that followed, and added that three Kalashnikovs and other equipment were seized.
In a fourth attack on the same day, BLF said its fighters targeted a military checkpoint in Mashkay’s Malesh Band area with heavy weapons at around 5pm, causing additional casualties.
The BLF spokesperson said the group accepted responsibility for all four attacks, adding that operations would continue “until the liberation of Balochistan”.
Pakistani authorities had not issued any statements confirming or responding to the BLF’s claims at the time of publication.