Baloch rebels attack Pakistani military convoy in Noshki; claim 90 lives

Karachi: At least five security personnel were killed and more than a dozen injured in a terrorist attack in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Sunday.

A suicide attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corp (FC) on the national highway in the Noshki area of the province.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility.

The group, a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization seeking independence from Pakistan, stated that its Majeed Brigade, a specialised Fidayee unit, carried out the assault early Sunday on the RCD Highway near Rakhshan Mill, targeting a convoy of eight buses.

The attack comes just days after the Zaffar Express train hijack in which Baloch rebels claimed to have killed 200 Pakistani soldiers.

In a statement released by BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, the group asserted that the attack involved a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) that completely destroyed one bus, followed by an advance by the BLA’s Fateh Squad, which allegedly surrounded and eliminated all military personnel on another bus. 

The BLA claimed a total of 90 Pakistani military personnel were killed in the operation, though these figures have not been independently verified by Pakistani authorities or international observers.

The Majeed Brigade, known for its suicide and guerrilla tactics, previously carried out a major assault in 2022 on the Pakistani Frontier Corps headquarters in Panjgur, killing 14 security personnel.

Confirming the attack, the police chief of the local Noshki police station Zafarullah Sumalani said that the initial investigations suggested that it was a suicide attack.

“The death toll may rise,” he said.

Sumalani also said that evidence from the site of the attack suggested that a suicide attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the FC convoy.

Meanwhile, security forces have cordoned off the blast site, and investigations are underway to determine the cause and those responsible for the attack.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack and expressed sorrow over the loss of life. “Those who play with the peace of Balochistan would be brought to a tragic end,” Bugti said in an official release.

Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind also condemned the attack “targeting innocents.”

Earlier last week, in the same province, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants ambushed the Jaffar Express, carrying 440 passengers, near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri on March 11. The militants killed 21 passengers and four paramilitary soldiers before the Army eliminated all 33 terrorists on March 12.