The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) on Monday released details of 28 operations it said were carried out across Balochistan between Sept. 1 and Sept. 7, claiming that 52 Pakistani military personnel were killed and several others injured.
In its weekly statement, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the operations were carried out in Pasni, Kharan, Kalat, Turbat, Mastung, Surab, Tump, Pishin, Jhal Magsi, Noshki, Chagai and Quetta.
The BLA said its fighters took control of checkpoints and vehicles, seized weapons and military equipment and damaged military and commercial infrastructure. It also confirmed that 12 of its fighters were killed during clashes with Pakistani forces.
The operations began on Sept. 1 at Zero Point in Pasni, Gwadar, where BLA fighters simultaneously attacked a joint police and Levies post and checkpoints belonging to Customs and the Coastal Police.
The group said its fighters took control of the checkpoints, seized weapons and military equipment and subsequently set the posts on fire and destroyed them.
BLA fighters also established checkpoints at several locations and conducted snap checks, the statement said, adding that an attempt by Pakistani military personnel to advance in Coastal Police vehicles was repelled, forcing them to withdraw.
The same day, the BLA said its fighters ambushed a Pakistani military convoy at Albat in Kharan, allegedly causing casualties and material losses.
At Garari in Kalat, BLA fighters attacked Pakistani military personnel transporting armoured vehicles on the Quetta-Karachi highway, the statement said, claiming that personnel were killed or injured and three armoured vehicles were severely damaged.
Two BLA fighters, identified as Younus Sabzal alias Malguzar and Doda alias Sarbaz, were killed during clashes with Pakistani forces in the Dasht area of Kech the same day.
On Sept. 2, the BLA said its fighters targeted a Pakistani military armoured vehicle with an improvised explosive device at Guro in the Khadkocha area of Mastung and subsequently ambushed the convoy.
The group claimed that four Pakistani military personnel were killed and more than seven injured during the prolonged clashes.
A Pakistani military convoy was separately attacked at Took in Kalat, allegedly causing personnel casualties and material losses.
The statement detailed several operations carried out on Sept. 3, including an attack by the BLA’s Special Tactical Operations Squad (STOS) on a Pakistani military convoy in the Hajika area of Surab.
The group said an explosives-laden vehicle was remotely detonated as the convoy passed through the area, destroying one military vehicle and killing seven personnel.
In Tump, BLA fighters fired multiple grenade launcher rounds at a Pakistani military camp in Malant and separately targeted another military camp in Tump city, allegedly causing losses.
A Pakistani military convoy was also ambushed in the Khadkocha area of Mastung, according to the statement.
The BLA also provided further details of the Sept. 3 attack by its Fateh Squad on a Pakistani military convoy at Ziarat Cross in Pishin.
The statement said four vehicles belonging to the Qilla Saifullah Scouts and Frontier Corps 134 Wing came under attack, adding that two vehicles, including a military truck, were destroyed after receiving direct hits.
The BLA claimed that 18 Pakistani military personnel were killed and five injured, while weapons and military equipment were seized from the scene.
It identified 16 of those it said were killed as Naik Ismail, Sepoy Bilal, Sepoy Abdul Rehman, Sepoy Fakharuddin, Sepoy Kankhab, Sepoy Irfan, Sepoy Akbar, Sepoy Ata Muhammad, Sepoy Rizwan, Sepoy Muhammad Tufail, Naik Muhammad Ayoub, Sepoy Owais Khan, Sepoy Wajid Ali, Sepoy Muhammad Ashfaq, Havildar Lutfe Rehman and Naik Zainullah.
Another unit took control of a company site at Khani Baba, near Ziarat Cross, and destroyed 14 pieces of heavy machinery and several vehicles, the statement said, adding that the company personnel detained during the operation were later released under its organisational policy.
On Sept. 4, the BLA said its fighters killed two Pakistani military commandos as they attempted to advance into the Khadkocha area of Mastung.
The following day, a BLA sniper targeted a member of the Pakistani military at Mehlabi in Kalat as forces gathered on the Quetta-Kalat highway, according to the statement.
The group also claimed that its fighters inflicted losses on Pakistani forces during intense clashes in the Dasht area of Mastung the same night.
On Sept. 6, BLA fighters destroyed a rest house used by Pakistani forces in the Kotro area of Jhal Magsi with explosives.
The group said another unit attacked a site used by the Pakistani military at Ghazaband, near Killa Abdullah, setting fire to computers, other equipment and a rest house.
The BLA also claimed responsibility for killing Abdul Rehman Langove, the Balochistan Awami Party’s Noshki district president and chairman of Union Council Baghak.
The group accused Langove of working as an operative for Pakistani forces, leading an armed “death squad”, recruiting informants and assisting in raids on civilian homes.
It further alleged that Langove organised rallies and other events on behalf of Pakistani forces and that his group was involved in extortion, robbery and drug trafficking.
On Sept. 7, the BLA said its fighters killed Rehmat Saeed, son of Saeed Muhammad and a resident of Karak, in the Hazar Ganji area of Quetta.
The group accused Rehmat of working as an operative for Pakistan’s Military Intelligence and said he had been under surveillance by its intelligence wing, ZIRAB.
At Albat in Kharan, a BLA sniper killed a member of the Pakistani military stationed at the main camp, while the camp was subsequently targeted with mortar shells, allegedly causing further casualties and material losses.
The group also claimed attacks on vehicles belonging to the Saindak project and a Pakistani military convoy at Garari and Mehlabi on the Quetta-Karachi highway in Kalat.
The statement provided details of the killing of Shakeel Ahmad Katbar, a resident of Teepul, who the BLA said had been detained in the Khadkocha area of Mastung the previous month.
The group accused Shakeel of working as an operative for Military Intelligence, recruiting informants and being an active member of what it called the “Pakistan Zindabad” organisation.
The BLA said Shakeel admitted during interrogation to working for Military Intelligence and provided information about other alleged operatives. It added that he was executed following a decision by the “Baloch National Court”.
The statement also provided details of clashes with Pakistani forces at Nokchah in Chagai on Aug. 31.
The BLA claimed that 16 Pakistani military personnel, including a senior officer, were killed and several others injured during clashes lasting more than four hours.
Ten BLA fighters were also killed during the fighting, the statement said.
It identified them as Zaheer Mengal alias Zakir, Ijaz Ahmed Mengal alias Hayat, Ali Nawaz Mengal alias Faraz, Muhammad Shakir Shahwani alias Asmatullah, Noor Ahmed Notezai alias Shadain, Mir Ali Moosazai alias Fayyaz, Uzair Ahmed Mandai alias Tanveer, Naseer Ahmed Muhammad Hassani alias Salal, Lal Muhammad Hassani alias Adnan and Yasir alias Sabzo.
The BLA paid tribute to the 10 fighters killed in Chagai and the two fighters killed in Dasht, Kech.
Reiterating its policy on commercial and military traffic, the BLA said its “economic blockade” against Pakistani forces and projects it considers exploitative would remain in effect on major highways across Balochistan.
The group pledged to continue its armed operations until what it described as “the establishment of an independent and sovereign Balochistan”.