A U.S. analyst said on Sunday that the Baloch Liberation Army’s (BLA) coordinated attacks under “Operation Herof” could force Washington to reconsider potential investment in Balochistan’s mineral sector.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, said the scale of the attacks underscored the security risks facing foreign companies exploring critical mineral opportunities in Pakistan.
“Today’s attacks in Balochistan should serve as a wake-up call to those, including in the White House, keen to invest in Pakistan’s critical mineral reserves,” he wrote on X. “Many [mineral sites] are in Balochistan, including areas hit today. One of the BLA’s core grievances is external exploitation of local resources.”
Analysts say several of Pakistan’s major copper, antimony and rare-earth deposits lie in districts where armed groups have carried out repeated attacks in recent years. The BLA and other groups oppose foreign investment in the region, arguing that such projects are exploitative and imposed without local consultation.
Some regional analysts said the latest attacks were intended as a signal not only to Pakistan but also to companies from the United States and China that have shown interest in Balochistan’s natural resources. They warned that without broader political consent from the Baloch population, large-scale projects would remain vulnerable.
Last October, the Financial Times reported that figures close to Pakistan’s army chief had informally discussed a proposal with U.S. investors to build a $1.2-billion port near Pasni to support access to mineral deposits inland. Islamabad rejected the report at the time.
China has invested more than $60 billion in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with Balochistan’s Gwadar Port as a central node. Chinese workers and installations have repeatedly been targeted by Baloch armed groups since the initiative began in 2015.