Armed attacks targeting Pakistani forces continued across Balochistan this week, with the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) claiming responsibility for operations that left at least five soldiers dead. In a separate incident, three members of an alleged state-backed armed group were shot dead in Panjgur.
In a statement issued on Thursday, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said the group’s fighters attacked a Pakistani military camp in the Miani Kalat area of Mashkay on the evening of 31 December.
He said fighters opened fire “from three directions using heavy weapons,” claiming the attack caused “significant casualties and material losses” to the forces stationed there.
The BLF said its fighters also patrolled the areas of Khalidabad, Miani Kalat and Bansar earlier that day, telling residents that the “success of the national struggle” depended on public support.
According to the statement, a sniper team carried out a separate attack on 1 January in the Bazdad Pump area of Awaran, targeting security personnel guarding a military convoy. The BLF said one soldier was killed.
Two hours later, the group said its fighters ambushed a six-vehicle convoy in the same area near Kundor, firing on two vehicles and killing four soldiers while injuring three others.
Major Baloch said the group “accepts responsibility for the killing of five military personnel” in the three attacks.
Meanwhile, the Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) said its fighters carried out two attacks on 30 and 31 December in the Sohbatpur and Naseerabad regions.
In a statement, BRG spokesperson Dostain Baloch said fighters targeted a Rangers camp in the Bus Circuit area on the Balochistan–Sindh border on the night of 30 December, using “small and heavy weapons.” He said the attack caused “human and material losses” to the forces.
The BRG said its fighters also attacked a Pakistani forces’ checkpoint on the highway between Bakhtiarabad and Notal in Naseerabad late on Wednesday night.
The group said it accepts responsibility for both attacks and added that such operations would continue “until the freedom of Balochistan.”
Three alleged ‘death squad’ members killed in Panjgur
Police officials in Panjgur said three men were killed and one injured in a firing incident in the Katagiri area on Thursday.
The deceased were identified as Zahid Muhammad Hussain, Jasim son of Nawab Jan, and Saifullah son of Hayat, while a fourth man, Qudoos son of Malang, was injured.
Local sources said the men belonged to an alleged state-backed armed group commonly referred to as a “death squad”.
In Balochistan, the term is used for groups accused by rights organizations of carrying out killings, disappearances and intimidation under the patronage of state institutions.
Baloch armed groups have previously claimed attacks on such militias, but no group had claimed responsibility for the Panjgur incident at the time of publication.
Pakistani forces have faced a wave of armed attacks across Balochistan in recent weeks, including operations claimed by the BLA, BLF and BRG that reportedly killed at least 15 soldiers between 23–27 December and 10 more on 27–28 December.
Pakistani authorities have not publicly confirmed the full extent of casualties.