Pakistani authorities on Saturday confirmed a large-scale military operation in the Zehri area of Khuzdar district, Balochistan, involving artillery, tanks, drones and helicopter gunships. The area has reportedly been under the control of Baloch “pro-independence” armed groups since August.
Security sources said the operation was aimed at destroying hideouts of armed fighters. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on X that “several militants were killed and their hideouts destroyed,” adding that the people and forces were “together shattering the enemy’s wicked intentions.”
Armed Groups’ Control of Zehri
Zehri fell under the control of the Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an alliance of Baloch armed groups, after a major assault on 11 August. The group said its fighters ambushed a convoy of 13 military vehicles, killed 37 soldiers and seized weapons and equipment.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which is part of BRAS, has since said its fighters repeatedly ambushed convoys and repelled advances. Last week, the group claimed it killed more than 15 soldiers in the Anjeera area, adding repeated military advances had been repelled for more than 47 days, forcing troops to retreat.
Armed groups have used checkpoints, blockades and ambushes to maintain control, with fighters publicly addressing gatherings in Zehri and nearby areas to project authority.
Video and photographic material released by the groups since taking control of Zehri show armed men patrolling streets, while destroyed military vehicles, uniforms and equipment allegedly belonging to Pakistani forces are seen scattered along highways.
Zehri has briefly come under the control of armed groups in the past, but the duration of the current takeover marks a significant development. Earlier this year, the BLA claimed control of Zehri city for several hours in a similar raid, during which its fighters ambushed a convoy, captured police and government buildings, and seized weapons and documents.
Operation Herof and the Armed Control of Zehri
Analysts say the sustained control of Zehri by Baloch armed groups, despite weeks of heavy military operations and airstrikes, appears to serve as a testing ground for expanding control to other parts of Balochistan, reflecting a shift from short-term raids and brief takeovers to efforts aimed at sustained territorial control.
They argue that this development by Baloch fighters appears to be part of preparations for the second phase of Operation Herof, which was launched by the Baloch Liberation Army in August 2024 and described by the group as a multi-phase military campaign to “reclaim Balochistan.”
In the first phase, the BLA claimed to have carried out coordinated assaults across 14 districts, killing more than 130 Pakistani soldiers and seizing highways, security posts and government installations, including a 20-hour occupation of a military base in Bela. Analysts described it as the largest coordinated action in the history of the Baloch insurgency, stretching from Makuran to the Koh-e-Sulaiman range.
On the first anniversary of Operation Herof in August this year, the BLA released a documentary declaring that the second phase would mark “the enemy’s downfall and the beginning of Baloch sovereignty.” The group’s leader, Bashir Zaib Baloch, said the campaign had “shaken the enemy inside its fortresses, deserted its highways, and turned fear into a permanent guest in its dreams.”
The BLA said the next phase of the operation would expand to new fronts and ensure that “no highway, convoy or checkpoint” remained secure for Pakistani forces.
Analysts say the continued control of Zehri demonstrates this evolving strategy in practice, testing the groups’ ability to hold territory and resist sustained ground and aerial offensives. They add that armed groups are likely to apply this model in other districts of Balochistan where state authority has already weakened, gradually expanding their influence before formally launching the second phase of Operation Herof.
Pakistani Military Operation in Zehri
To re-establish control of Zehri, Pakistani forces launched a large-scale ground and aerial operation around 20 days ago, deploying tanks, artillery, drones and helicopter gunships.
The offensive has continued with intensity, as curfews remain in place and communications in the region are largely cut off.
Since then, Pakistani forces have mounted several attempts to retake the area but have faced repeated ambushes. Local sources say convoys have been forced to withdraw on multiple occasions.
After suffering losses in Anjeera last week, troops reportedly advanced into nearby areas, including Gazzan, conducting house raids and detaining civilians whose whereabouts remain unknown.
The forces have also taken over Zehri’s only civil hospital and turned it into a military camp, while residents report shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
Residents said several of the injured were denied medical treatment after the hospital’s conversion into a military camp. With internet and mobile networks shut down, it remains difficult to verify the full scale of casualties or arrests.
With ground operations suffering losses, the Pakistani military has carried out multiple airstrikes around Zehri.
Sources said at least 11 civilians, including two women and a child, have been killed since mid-September. On 15 September, an airstrike on a house reportedly killed three members of the Pandrani tribe, while a drone strike near Tarasani on 17 September killed three more people and injured five others. On 1 October, another drone strike in the Noorgama area killed four civilians sitting near farmland.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) condemned the Pakistani military operation, calling it “collective punishment” against civilians. The BYC said indiscriminate bombings, curfews and restrictions on essential supplies have pushed thousands of families to the brink of hunger and displacement.
“The wounded and sick are being denied medical care, and the entire population is under a suffocating siege,” the BYC said in a statement, adding that the blackout on internet and mobile services had “silenced the region and concealed atrocities against civilians from the world.”