‘Enemy’s days are numbered’: How women 'fidayeen' led Baloch rebel attacks claiming 200 Pakistani soldiers

In a significant escalation, the BLA openly acknowledged deploying women suicide attackers. Among those killed was Asifa Mengal, identified as a member of the Majeed Brigade.

A major Balochistan insurgent offensive has exposed Pakistan’s weakening control, with coordinated attacks, women suicide bombers, and officials detained. The BLA claims widespread control, challenging Islamabad’s narrative and highlighting deep-rooted unrest.

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Pakistan’s long-simmering crisis in Balochistan has erupted into one of the most audacious insurgent offensives the country has witnessed in years, laying bare Islamabad’s shrinking control over its own territory. For more than 40 hours, separatist fighters launched coordinated attacks across multiple districts, openly challenging the authority of the Pakistan Army, police, and intelligence agencies.

While Islamabad has responded with familiar silence and inflated counter-claims, the scale, coordination, and symbolism of the violence point to a deeper failure of the Pakistani state. As Baloch fighters claim control over towns, free government officials, and deploy women suicide attackers, Pakistan’s military narrative is unraveling, exposing a security establishment unable to suppress a rebellion rooted in decades of political neglect, repression, and broken promises.

BLA claims widespread control across Balochistan

The banned Balochistan Liberation Army said its ongoing offensive, Operation Herof Phase II, has continued for over 40 hours across vast swathes of Balochistan. In statements issued by spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, the group claimed that operations were completed in Kharan, Mastung, Tump, and Pasni, while fighting remained active elsewhere.

The BLA also asserted its presence in parts of Quetta and Noshki, claiming Pakistan’s military presence in those areas had been “repelled.” The statements described the offensive as a direct challenge to what the group calls Pakistan’s occupation of Baloch land.

‘200 Pak personnel killed,’ BLA claims

According to the BLA, more than 200 personnel from the Pakistan Army, police, and Frontier Corps were killed during the offensive, with at least 17 captured. The group described these as “preliminary and cautious estimates,” adding that actual losses were likely higher.

While these figures cannot be independently verified, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti conceded that 17 law enforcement personnel and 31 civilians were killed in the attacks, a toll that undercuts Islamabad’s attempts to downplay the scale of the violence.

Pakistan’s military, meanwhile, claimed it killed 92 militants on Saturday and 41 on Friday, figures that have been met with skepticism amid the government’s failure to present a comprehensive operational briefing.

Release of officials exposes Islamabad’s weakness

In a move that further embarrassed Pakistani authorities, the BLA said it detained and later released Noshki Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Hussain Hazara and Assistant Commissioner Maria Shamoo. The group described the release as a “humanitarian gesture.”

The BLA said it does not consider local civil administration and police as direct enemies unless they resist its fighters, but warned that officials who “assist the occupying army” would be treated as hostile targets.

The incident highlighted the inability of Pakistan’s security apparatus to protect even senior officials in contested districts.

Women ‘fidayeen’ mark escalation

In a significant escalation, the BLA openly acknowledged deploying women suicide attackers. Among those killed was Asifa Mengal, identified as a member of the Majeed Brigade.

“Asifa Mengal joined the Baloch Liberation Army's Majeed Brigade on October 2, 2023, and took her fidayeen decision in January 2024,” the group said, adding that she died on Friday after carrying out a VBIED attack targeting the ISI headquarters in Noshki.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that at least two attacks involved women perpetrators.

Another woman fighter, identified as Hawa Baloch, was involved in operations at the Gwadar front. The BLA released a video of her final message, recorded 12 hours before her death.

In the video, she is seen moving through a security facility, laughing with fellow fighters and mocking the Pakistani state before opening fire.

“Pakistan is not coming forward out of fear. They cannot face us...Today you will face Baloch women freedom fighters. Today, you will know how tough it is to face Baloch women,” she said.

She added, “We just need to awaken ourselves; the Baloch nation needs to awaken. We must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Baloch Sarmachars. The enemy's days are numbered; they don't have much strength.”

Pakistan’s official silence grows louder

As of Sunday evening, Pakistan had issued no detailed official account of the clashes described by the BLA. The absence of a comprehensive briefing has only reinforced perceptions of confusion and damage control within Islamabad.

Bugti said, “We will carry out intelligence-based operations against terrorists, and we will drag them out of their hideouts,” a familiar refrain that has failed to stop the insurgency from growing bolder and more lethal.

Markets remained shut in several towns, security checkpoints were overrun, and civilians were left trapped between militants and heavy-handed counter-operations.

A rebellion Pakistan refuses to confront

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest yet poorest province, has endured a decades-long insurgency driven by demands for autonomy, control over natural resources, and an end to enforced disappearances and military repression. Despite repeated crackdowns, the rebellion has only intensified.

While Pakistan brands the BLA a terrorist group and blames foreign conspiracies, the scale of local participation, including women fighters, underscores a reality Islamabad refuses to acknowledge. This is not an external plot. It is a domestic rebellion fueled by decades of state failure.

As Pakistan’s military struggles to contain the fallout, the events of the past 40 hours have exposed a sobering truth. Balochistan is slipping further from Islamabad’s grasp, and force alone is no longer enough to hold it together.