Name: Why is the Balochistan Liberation Army attacking Pakistan? | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-02-01T16:57:53.000Z
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Pakistan says its security forces have killed nearly 150 militants in Balochistan province over the past two days.

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In one of the deadliest insurgent flare ups in years, separatist militants had launched a string of coordinated attacks across the province on Saturday, including the regional capital, Quetta.

Insurgents stormed banks, jails and police stations, killing at least 48 people.

That's according to Pakistani authorities.

The Balochistan Liberation army, the region's largest separatist group, has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

For more of this we can now bring in our reporter Binish Javed, who's covering Pakistan for us.

Explain to us the sheer scale of this attack.

So Gerhard, it's still unclear how big or massive this attack was.

The reports that we are getting is that there were coordinated simultaneous attacks by militant groups in several cities in the province of Balochistan.

The militants attacked banks, prison, military installations.

And what we know that the military is still calming the area and some of the areas are still sealed off.

So it was a massive attack, but still it's, it's a very sensitive area.

So, so there's a very limited access to media.

So full scale information we are still not getting.

Now how affected were local people, ordinary Pakistanis in the area?

The attack took many people by surprise and shock.

What we have been hearing from people is that some of them were on the bazaars, in the markets, on the streets and they got hit by bullet or when they were trying to help an injured policeman or an injured person, they got hit.

So far what we are hearing is that Internet service is completely suspended, train service has been suspended, some of the roads have been blocked and some of the people are still being treated in the hospital.

We also have a sound bite of one of the affected persons.

Let's have a listen to what that person had to say.

Firing had already started from all sides and people were running away.

In the gunfire, a policeman seemed to be killed while another was injured.

With the help of a friend, I lifted the injured policeman and I took him to the nearby training center.

When I stepped outside the center on my way back, I was also hit by a bullet.

Now, Binesh, why is this group waging a war against the Pakistani government?

So BLA Baloch Liberation Army Gerhard is one of the many other insurgent groups, but

And this group, along with other armed separatist groups, they have been waging a war against the Pakistani state for decades.

They believe that the Pakistani state over the years have treated the Baloch which is the largest ethnic population in Balochistan.

The Pakistani state they accused have treated them unfairly, have used or they say exploited the resources of Balochistan province, such as natural gas, mineral resources to basically benefit the other provinces of Pakistan.

And Gerhardt, Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province, but

it is the poorest province of Pakistan when it comes to education, economic development, they are the lowest as compared to other provinces.

But it's not only the use of minerals or natural resources.

These separatist groups and even peaceful Baloch activists, they are against the presence of Pakistan's military and security forces in the province of Balochistan.

They are against the military operations.

They accuse Pakistan state of enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings.

Now, Pakistani state vehemently denied these accusations.

We have seen over the years that Baloch, some of the even peaceful Baloch activists, they have marched to the capital, Islamabad, they sat there, they protested, but

many times their pleas or their demands have not been heard.

And Pakistani state sometimes what these activists say, that they were peaceful, they were unarmed, but

they were arrested, they have been put in jail on and charged with a serious accusation of terrorism.

So it's a complex problem that Pakistan has been dealing with for many, many years.

CW reporter BHAV thank you very much for your input.