The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) on Wednesday said its fighters killed 26 Pakistani personnel, seized control of police stations and checkpoints, and captured weapons and vehicles during 15 operations carried out across Balochistan between June 1 and June 10.
In a statement, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the operations included armed assaults, ambushes and improvised explosive device attacks in Mastung, Noshki, Kalat, Panjgur, Kech, Khuzdar, Dukki, Pishin and Qilla Abdullah.
The statement said the attacks targeted military convoys, advancing troops, checkpoints, police stations, and military intelligence personnel. The BLA also named seven of its fighters killed during clashes in Mastung, Panjgur and Kalat.
Police Stations Seized
The BLA said its fighters seized control of Narhan police station in Dukki, Sultan police station in Pishin’s Dinar area and the Gilo police checkpoint in Dolangi, Gulistan tehsil of Qilla Abdullah.
According to the statement, fighters confiscated weapons, military equipment and operational vehicles during the raids, while police personnel who did not resist were released unharmed.
At Narhan police station, the BLA said one policeman was killed after he took up a defensive position and opened fire. In Pishin and Qilla Abdullah, the statement said personnel present at the sites were taken into custody, while 15 weapons, military hardware and vehicles were seized.
The BLA said its fighters later set fire to Sultan police station, bulldozed a section of the facility and destroyed the Gilo checkpoint with explosives.
Military Advances Targeted
The statement said several operations were carried out against Pakistani military advances in Kalat, Panjgur, Khuzdar and Zamuran, where BLA fighters engaged foot soldiers, armoured vehicles and military convoys.
In Iskalko, Kalat, the BLA said its fighters first targeted army personnel advancing on foot, killing three and forcing the remaining troops to retreat. It said Pakistani forces later attempted to advance with armoured vehicles, triggering a second clash in which four more personnel were killed and one armoured vehicle, along with military equipment, was captured.
The BLA named one of its fighters killed in the Kalat clashes as Kaka Zaheer.
The statement added that Pakistani forces later used mortar fire, gunship helicopters and shelling against civilian settlements in the area.
In Panjgur’s Chedgi area, the BLA said prolonged clashes broke out after Pakistani forces attempted to advance into the area. It claimed several personnel were killed and injured, while a military helicopter was severely damaged after being targeted with heavy weapons.
The BLA named three of its fighters killed in the Panjgur clashes as Talar, Babar and Khalil.
In Zehri’s Balbal area of Khuzdar, the statement said BLA fighters engaged Pakistani forces after they attempted to advance with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and transport vehicles.
“In the ensuing ten-hour clash, more than four personnel of the occupying forces were killed and several others injured, while one armored vehicle sustained severe structural damage,” the statement said.
Ambushes and IED Attacks
The BLA said its fighters also carried out ambushes and IED attacks in Mastung, Noshki, Kalat, Kech and Turbat.
In Kech district’s Zamuran area, the BLA said a military vehicle was “completely destroyed” in a remote-controlled IED blast at Kirpasi in Wakai, killing three personnel and injuring several others. It also claimed separate IED attacks in Tegran and Jabshan, saying two more personnel were killed and others injured.
In Kardegap, Mastung, the group said fighters targeted a military post with mortar fire on June 1, killing three personnel and injuring four others. It added that three BLA fighters, identified as Maqbool, Salahuddin and Waheed, were also killed during clashes in the same area.
On June 3, the statement said, BLA fighters ambushed a military convoy near the railway crossing in Ahmed Wal, Noshki, killing at least two personnel and injuring several others.
The same day, it claimed an IED attack in Manguchar, Kalat, saying one member of a bomb disposal squad was killed and two others were injured.
The BLA further claimed an armed assault on foot soldiers in Gworkop, Kech, and an ambush on a bus convoy carrying military personnel near Ahmed Wal in Noshki on June 8, adding that several personnel were killed and injured.
In Turbat city, the group said its Special Tactical Operations Squad (STOS) carried out what it called a “complex, organised operation” on June 9, detonating a magnetic bomb at the entrance of a Pakistani forces checkpoint while four personnel were inside.
MI Officer Killed
The BLA also claimed the killing of Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Arsalan Halim, whom it described as a senior Military Intelligence (MI) officer, along with three accompanying personnel in Kalatuk, Turbat.
According to the statement, Halim was travelling in a three-vehicle convoy after leaving a military camp in Nasirabad and was moving under the protection of an alleged state-backed armed group, which the BLA described as a “Death Squad.”
The BLA said the movement had been tracked by its intelligence wing, “ZIRAB,” adding that the attack was carried out using what it called “authentic and confidential data.”
“The MI officer was moving in disguise under the protection of a state-backed ‘Death Squad’, a movement closely tracked by BLA’s intelligence wing, ZIRAB,” the statement said, adding that fighters carried out what it described as a “precise strike.”
Expanding Operational Reach
In its concluding remarks, the BLA said the operations during the first 10 days of June showed its “expanding operational reach,” the performance of “ZIRAB” and its “ability to establish control over state installations.”
The group said the attacks, the killing of a senior intelligence officer and the seizure of police stations and checkpoints showed that the Baloch resistance movement was now in a position to check Pakistani military expansion and assert what it called “strategic dominance.”
Jeeyand Baloch said the BLA paid tribute to its fighters killed in the operations, adding that attacks on Pakistani military, intelligence and economic targets would continue “until the complete end of foreign occupation and subjugation on Baloch soil.”