The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in the Balochistan region of Afghanistan. Operating primarily from regions across southern Afghanistan and southeastern Iran, the BLA perpetrates attacks in neighbouring Pakistan's Balochistan province, which it seeks to remove from Pakistani sovereignty. It frequently targets civilians, foreign nationals, Pakistani soldiers and policemen, and has carried out multiple massacres targeting non-Baloch civilians, including ethnic Punjabis, Sindhis, Pashtuns and Saraikis. The BLA is also known for its anti-Chinese sentiment and attacks on Chinese civilians residing in Pakistan. It also regularly attacks schools, hospitals, and infrastructure projects in the province as well.
The BLA's first recorded activity was in mid-2000, when it claimed credit for a series of bombings against Pakistani authorities.
The BLA is designated as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, China, Iran, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
History The BLA was founded in 2000, although some media and analysts speculate that the group is a resurgence of prior Baloch insurgencies, specifically the Independent Balochistan Movement of 1973 to 1977. According to some sources, two former KGB agents code-named "Misha" and "Sasha" were among the BLA's chief architects. According to them, the BLA was built around the Baloch Student Organization (BSO). The BLA disappeared following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan as the USSR withdrew funding.
On 10 February 1973, Pakistani police and paramilitary raided the Iraqi embassy in Islamabad without the permission of the Iraqi government. During the raid, they found a large cache of small arms, ammunition, grenades, and other supplies in crates marked "Foreign Ministry, Baghdad"; they believed these were meant for Baloch rebels. Pakistan responded by expelling and declaring persona non grata the Iraqi Ambassador, Hikmat Sulaiman, and other consular staff. In a letter to U.S. President Richard Nixon on February 14, Pakistani president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto blamed India and Afghanistan, besides Iraq and the Soviet Union, for involvement in a: "conspiracy [...] [with] subversive and irredentist elements which seek to disrupt Pakistan's integrity".
In 2004, the BLA began a violent struggle against Pakistan for the separation of Balochistan from Pakistan, conducting terror attacks against the Pakistani military as well as non-Balochi minorities within Balochistan.
Pakistan designated the Balochistan Liberation Army as a terrorist organization on 7 April 2006 after the group repeatedly attacked security personnel. On 17 July 2006, the British government followed suit, listing the BLA as a "proscribed group" based on the Terrorism Act 2000. However, the U.K. harboured Hyrbyair Marri, the suspected leader of BLA, as a refugee, despite Pakistan's protest. The group's actions were described as terrorism by the United States Department of State.
On 15 April 2009, Baloch activist Brahamdagh Khan Bugti (accused by the Pakistani government of being a BLA leader), called for Baloch to kill non-Baloch residing in Balochistan, including civilians. Targeted attacks against Punjabi residents began soon after, causing about 500 deaths. The BLA leaders later claimed responsibility for inciting the attacks. The BLA's factions have targeted non-Baloch from various ethnic backgrounds, including Pashtuns, Sindhis, Saraikis and Punjabis, whom the BLA consider "outsiders".
The United States designated the group as a global terrorist organization on 2 July 2019 and froze BLA assets. The European Union also designated the BLA as a terrorist organization.
On 16 January 2024, Iran carried out missile strikes on Pakistan's Balochistan province, specifically in Koh-e-Sabz in Panjgur District, targeting Jaysh al-Adl fighters' hideouts in Pakistan. According to Jaish ul-Adl, the strikes had killed 2 and injured 4 family members of its fighters. These strikes ignited the 2024 Iran–Pakistan conflict. On 18 January 2024, Pakistan carried out strikes on Baloch separatist targets in Sarvan in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province in retaliation. The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said hideouts used by the BLA and the BLF were successfully struck and destroyed in the operation. Such Pakistani strikes were the first known instances of attacks on Iranian soil since the end of the Iran–Iraq War. Iran confirmed this by stating that the attacks killed and injured at least 9 foreign nationals living on its soil. Both the BLA and BLF also confirmed this by claiming that family members of their fighters were killed.
The Baloch Liberation Army and Baloch Liberation Front acknowledged the deaths of family members their fighters in the Iran–Pakistan clashes in 2024 and "vowed revenge" against the Pakistani state.
In 2025 one of BLA's groups, the Majeed Brigade, was designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by the United States.
Split In 2017, BLA expelled its commanders, Aslam Baloch and Bashir Zaib, over disciplinary issues, particularly Aslam's unauthorized visit to India for medical treatment. This internal rift escalated into a major split, with BLA spokesman Azad Baloch publicly disowning both leaders. Subsequently, the group appointed Jeeyand Baloch as its new spokesman, while Bashir Zaib went on to lead a separate BLA faction. The split resulted in two factions: BLA–Azad and BLA–Jeeyand.
Special Forces
Majeed Brigade
Majeed Brigade (also spelt Majid Brigade), is a specialized unit of the Balochistan Liberation Army which was founded by Aslam Baloch. The group received its name from the two (now deceased) Baloch separatist brothers, namely Majeed Langau Senior and Majeed Langau Junior. It is tasked with carrying out high-stakes and high-profile unconventional attacks, such as suicide bombings, suicide missions, IED attacks/bombings, fedayeen attacks, and car bombings, against Pakistani security forces.
Fateh Squad Fateh squad is the specialized unit of the BLA. The unit was established in May 2021 and named after Fateh Qambrani, a BLA leader who was killed by the Pakistan Armed Forces in 2018. The Fateh squad is involved in terrorist attacks, primarily targeting Pakistans's Armed Forces, Civilians and Foreign Nationals.
It is known for participating in high-profile terrorism incidents, including the August 2024 Balochistan Attacks, which lead to the death of 74 people most of which were unarmed civilians, and wounding many more, and the 2025 hijacking of the Jaffar Express train where 380 passengers were taken hostage abroad the Jaffar Express, out of which 38 were killed by BLA terrorists.
Unlike the BLA's Majeed Brigade, which is known for suicide attacks, the Fateh squad specializes in high-intensity urban warfare, complex assaults, and follow-up operations. Their tactics often involve direct combat, storming military bases, convoys, and security posts following initial explosions or ambushes.
Recruitment The BLA has used social media to recruit members from the Baloch youth, developing an intelligentsia supportive of Baloch separatism, particularly in major urban centers.
Funding David Wright-Neville wrote that besides Pakistan, some Western observers claimed that India funds the BLA. In August 2013, U.S. Special Representative James Dobbins said:"The dominant infiltration of militants is from Pakistan into Afghanistan, but we recognize that there is some infiltration of hostile militants from the other direction [India]. So Pakistan's concerns aren't groundless. They are simply, in our judgment, somewhat exaggerated."Following arrest of an alleged BLA terrorist namely Brohi, according to CTD Karachi officials, Brohi confessed to collecting millions of rupees through extortion and ransom after joining the BLA.
Yunas Samad reported that Hyrbyair Marri has been the group's leader since 2007. However, in an interview in 2015, Marri denied having any contact with the group. Hyrbyair's brother, Balach, led the group from 2000 until he was killed in 2007.
It is also reported that BLA was actively involved in kidnapping for ransom activities.
According to the Ministry of Petroleum, the BLA and BLF were directly involved in smuggling Iranian oil. By 2024, 2.8 billion liters of smuggled oil—worth 227 billion rupees in government revenue—entered Pakistan; smuggling was temporarily depressed during Anwaar ul Haq Kakar's caretaker government from 2023 to 2024.
Foreign involvement
India Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of supporting Baloch rebels. Pakistan has also accused Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad, Afghanistan, of providing arms, training and financial aid to the BLA in an attempt to destabilize Pakistan. Pakistan has often accused the BLA of acting as an Indian proxy, alleging that Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad, Afghanistan, provided arms, training, and financial aid.
Baloch separatist Brahamdagh Bugti stated in a 2008 interview that he would accept help from India.
A leaked diplomatic cable sent on December 31, 2009, from the U.S. consulate in Karachi said it was "plausible" that Indian intelligence was helping the Baloch insurgents. An earlier 2008 cable, discussing the Mumbai attacks, reported fears by British officials that "intense domestic pressure would force Delhi to respond, at the minimum, by ramping up covert support to nationalist insurgents fighting the Pakistani Army in Balochistan."
In 2010 David Wright-Neville wrote in his book the Dictionary of Terrorism that outside Pakistan, some Western observers also believe that India secretly funds the BLA.
In August 2013, US Special Representative James Dobbins said Pakistan's fears over India's role in Afghanistan were “not groundless".
The Hindu reported that BLA commanders had sought medical treatment in India's hospitals using disguises and fake identities. One militant commander in charge of Khuzdar lived in Delhi for at least six months in 2017 while he underwent treatment for kidney ailments. The Express Tribune reported another commander, Aslam Baloch, received treatment at a New Delhi hospital.
In 2017, Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian naval officer arrested in March 2016 in Balochistan and charged with espionage and sabotage was sentenced to death. He was accused of operating a covert terror network within Balochistan. Jadhav had confessed that he was tasked by India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), “to plan and organize espionage and sabotage activities” in Balochistan and Karachi.
In November 2020, the Foreign Office of Pakistan made public a dossier containing 'irrefutable proofs' of the alleged Indian sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan. It contained proof of India's alleged financial and material sponsorship of multiple terrorist organizations, including the Balochistan Liberation Army. The dossier was shared with the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
Since 2025, Pakistan uses the umbrella term "Fitna al-Hindustan" (often shortened as FAH) to refer to the Balochistan Liberation Army and its associated factions operating in Balochistan which it accuses of being sponsored by India.
Baloch separatist Hyrbyair Marri had denied that BLA had links with India, and India officially denies helping BLA.
Afghanistan The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan acknowledged its covert support for BLA. After the death of Aslam Baloch, also known as Achu, in Kandahar, Afghan officials stated that Afghan police chief Abdul Raziq Achakzai had housed Aslam Baloch and other separatists in Kandahar for years. Tolonews reported that Aslam Baloch had resided in Afghanistan since 2005. BLA leader Balach Marri was killed in Afghanistan in 2007.
China