The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) has released video footage purportedly showing the first armed operation carried out by its newly established women’s wing, the Karima Armed Assault Division (KAAD). The footage depicts members of the unit attacking a Pakistani military convoy, which included an armoured vehicle. The separatist group has claimed that nine Pakistani military personnel were killed in the attacks.
The footage reportedly captures a KAAD operation in Turbat on September 22. In the first-person visuals, armed women can be seen firing rifles at a three-vehicle Quick Response Force (QRF) convoy travelling along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) highway in Balochistan.
A woman commander is seen outlining the operation before the fighters launch the assault. The video shows them carrying out the attack from a very close distance, reportedly around five steps from the convoy, which the group presented as evidence of their training.
BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch claimed that the assault caused extensive damage to several Pakistani military vehicles. According to him, the Qurban unit assisted the KAAD fighters during the operation and engaged Pakistani personnel who attempted to surround them, allowing the attackers to retreat safely.
Baloch also said Qurban unit fighter Chakar Murad, alias Dileep Jan, was killed during the encounter.
Another portion of the footage allegedly shows KAAD members stopping and checking vehicles in the Mangchar area of Kalat.
Separately, the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for an attack on a Mari Energies Limited facility in Beh Loti, located in Balochistan's Dera Bugti. According to BRA spokesperson Sarbaz Baloch, rockets and heavy weapons were used in the assault, killing three company employees and injuring several others.
Sarbaz further claimed that Pakistani forces subsequently clashed with members of what the group described as a local state-backed armed formation following the attack on the energy company's facility.
According to the BRA's account, nine Pakistani military personnel and three members of the armed group were killed. The Balochistan Post reported that the BRA also said six of its fighters died in the fighting.
The Baloch Republican Guards (BRG), meanwhile, claimed that its fighters captured Haji Shehr and destroyed a local police station using explosives. The group also alleged that BRA fighters entered Eri Shehr, took control of government buildings and later withdrew from the area after completing their operation.
The incidents come amid a reported increase in attacks by Baloch militant organisations against Pakistani security forces, with recent violence also causing casualties and damage to government and security infrastructure.
The KAAD takes its name from Karima Baloch, a prominent pro-independence activist who became the first woman chairperson of the Baloch Students Organisation-Azad (BSO-Azad). She was found dead in Toronto, Canada, in 2020 in circumstances that remained the subject of investigation and speculation.
