Two Baloch “pro-independence” armed groups, the Balochistan Liberation Front and the Baloch Republican Guards, have claimed responsibility for multiple attacks across Balochistan, including an attack on Coast Guard personnel in Jiwani, strikes on military installations and communication systems in Tump and Kolwah, and attacks on electricity towers and a Pakistani forces camp in Naseerabad and Kachhi.
In a statement issued to the media, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said the group’s fighters carried out what he described as a “successful intelligence-based operation” on May 8 in the Kuntani area of Jiwani, targeting two Coast Guard personnel while they were patrolling on a motorcycle.
The BLF identified the personnel as Sepoy Kashif Zafar and Mudasir Jahanzeb, claiming both were killed on the spot and that two G3 rifles were seized.
The group alleged that the Coast Guard personnel were involved in what it called “inhumane atrocities” against fishermen and people associated with the oil trade in the area.
It said local residents had been subjected to violence, while motorcycles, boats and oil depots had been burned, adding that the personnel were targeted when they had “arrived once again to burn the property and boats of local people”.
The spokesperson said BLF fighters also destroyed surveillance and monitoring cameras installed by the Pakistani military in Bal Yaqoob Bazaar in Kolwah on May 6, alleging that the cameras were being used to track the movement of Baloch fighters.
In Kech district, the group said its fighters attacked a Pakistani military post in the Kalat area of Tump on May 5 with grenade launchers, claiming that multiple rounds hit their targets and caused what it described as “heavy casualties and material losses”.
The BLF also claimed an attack on a military camp in the Jerak area of Kolwah on May 4, saying its fighters used mortar shells that landed inside the camp perimeter.
The statement further said BLF fighters had earlier targeted a mobile tower in the Hor area of Kolwah Geshkour in Awaran district on April 25, describing it as a “surveillance instrument” used by Pakistani forces. It said the tower’s machinery was disabled and other communication equipment installed on it was destroyed.
In a separate statement, Major Gwahram Baloch said BLF fighters clashed with Pakistani forces in Washuk on May 4 while they were on a routine patrol. He said the fighters “suddenly came face to face” with the Pakistani army and adopted what he called “effective guerrilla warfare tactics”, claiming three Pakistani military personnel were killed and several others injured.
The statement said one BLF fighter was injured during the clash, but continued to confront the forces, while two others held their positions and kept military units engaged so that their comrades could withdraw safely, adding that they “fought the enemy until their last bullet and breath, ultimately embracing martyrdom”.
The BLF identified the two killed fighters as Captain Mukhtiyar Baloch, alias Peerak Baloch, from the Kalar area of Mashkay, and Ghareeb Shah, alias Irfan Baloch, son of Nasir Baloch, a resident of Mashkay Gazzi.
The group said Mukhtiyar Baloch had begun his association with the BLF in 2012 at a young age and later completed a BS degree in Sociology from the University of Balochistan before formally joining operational activities on the mountain front in 2021. It described him as a “highly educated and ideologically committed” fighter who later became camp commander of the Rakhshan region.
The statement said Ghareeb Shah joined the BLF in May 2024 for what it called “Baloch national survival and the liberation of the homeland”. It said he served on fronts in Mashkay and Jhao and was killed in Washuk while fighting alongside Captain Peerak Baloch.
Paying tribute to the two fighters, the BLF said the “blood of the martyrs will not go in vain”, adding that their deaths would strengthen the movement.
“The enemy should know that the martyrdom of our fighters is not our weakness but our strength, it further energizes and invigorates the movement,” the statement said.
Separately, the BRG claimed responsibility for three attacks in Naseerabad and Kachhi between May 10 and May 12, including attacks on electricity towers and a Pakistani forces camp.
In a statement, BRG spokesperson Dostain Baloch said the group’s fighters destroyed two electricity towers in the Mir Hassan area near Dera Murad Jamali in Naseerabad by planting explosives, adding that one tower collapsed completely while another was severely damaged.
The group also claimed an attack on the main camp of Pakistani forces in Sanni town of Kachhi on May 11. Dostain Baloch said BRG fighters fired several grenade-launcher rounds at the camp at around 9:00am, claiming the shells landed inside and caused casualties and material losses.
In another statement issued on May 12, the BRG said its fighters destroyed two electricity towers carrying power from the Uch Power Plant to Quetta in the Mirwah area of Naseerabad by planting explosives, adding that two towers collapsed completely in the blast, while two additional towers were severely damaged.
The BRG said it accepted responsibility for the attacks, adding that such operations would continue until what it described as the “independence of Balochistan”.
Pakistani authorities did not immediately comment on the BLF and BRG claims.