QUETTA — The Balochistan Liberation Front has released footage of what it describes as the first armed operation by its newly formed female combat unit, claiming that nine Pakistani military personnel were killed in attacks in Balochistan.
The group said its Karima Armed Assault Division, or KAAD, attacked a three-vehicle Quick Response Force convoy on September 22 near Jusak, on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor highway in the Turbat area. The claim has not been independently verified.
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Footage released by the BLF shows women fighters carrying rifles and a female commander briefing members of the unit before the operation. Other sequences appear to show fighters firing at a military convoy, including an armoured vehicle.
BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said several Pakistani military vehicles were damaged during the attack and that members of another BLF formation, known as the Qurban unit, supported the operation and helped the fighters withdraw after Pakistani forces attempted to surround them.
The BLF also said one of its fighters, Chakar Murad, also known as Dileep Jan, was killed during the fighting.
The group subsequently claimed that KAAD members carried out a second operation in the Manguchar area of Kalat, where they established a highway blockade and conducted checks of passing vehicles. The BLF said Pakistani military convoys sent to the area were attacked during the operation.
According to the BLF’s account, the nine Pakistani personnel were killed across the two operations, with six deaths attributed to the Turbat ambush and three to fighting in Manguchar. The casualty figures have not been independently confirmed, and there has been no detailed public account from Pakistan’s military corroborating the claims.
The emergence of KAAD adds a new element to the armed insurgency in Balochistan, where separatist groups have repeatedly targeted Pakistani security forces, government installations and infrastructure. The BLF says the unit is named after Karima Baloch, a prominent Baloch independence activist and former chairperson of the Baloch Students Organisation-Azad who died in Toronto in 2020.
The BLF’s latest claims come amid a series of attacks by several Baloch armed groups across the province. The Baloch Republican Army said it separately attacked a site operated by Mari Energies in the Beh Loti area of Dera Bugti using rockets and heavy weapons.
The BRA claimed that three company employees were killed in that attack and that subsequent fighting with Pakistani forces and a local armed group resulted in further casualties. It said nine Pakistani military personnel and three members of the local armed group were killed. Those figures, too, have not been independently verified.
Another armed group, the Baloch Republican Guards, said it had seized Haji Shehr and destroyed a police station with explosives. It also claimed that BRA fighters entered Eri Shehr and took control of government buildings before withdrawing.
The recent attacks reflect the continuing reach of the Baloch insurgency, which has persisted for years despite repeated Pakistani military operations and security measures. The province is strategically important because it contains major mineral resources and hosts key transport and energy infrastructure, including routes associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The latest BLF footage provides visual evidence of the group’s female unit participating in an armed operation, but the circumstances shown in the video, including the precise location, timing and casualties, cannot be established independently from the footage alone.
The BLF has portrayed KAAD as a dedicated combat formation rather than a symbolic organisation, while its claims of battlefield success remain subject to verification. Pakistan’s authorities have yet to publicly confirm the nine military deaths attributed to the unit.
For now, the available information comes principally from the insurgent groups and footage released through their media channels. Independent confirmation of the reported casualties and the full scale of the fighting remains unavailable.
