Nine Pakistani soldiers killed in militant attack in Balochistan, day after US' terror tag for BLA

File photo used for representational purpose

At least nine Pakistani soldiers were killed in a militant attack in the country's restive southwestern Balochistan province, a government official said Tuesday.

A senior official of Washuk district said dozens of militants attacked a police station and a border force compound.

"The army was attacked by terrorists on their way to respond. The terrorists killed nine soldiers," he told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

This comes a day after the US State Department on Monday officially designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, the Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO).

The BLA, a separatist militant group operating primarily in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, has been responsible for numerous deadly attacks targeting security forces and critical infrastructure. In 2024 alone, the group claimed responsibility for suicide attacks near Karachi airport and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex, which are considered key strategic locations that Pakistan has sought to develop under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

In March 2025, the group was behind the audacious hijacking of the Jaffar Express train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar, resulting in the deaths of 31 civilians and security personnel, with over 300 passengers taken hostage. The attack highlighted the group’s operational reach and the ongoing security vacuum in Pakistan’s western provinces.

Balochistan has long been the centre of a separatist movement, with groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) fighting an armed insurgency. They reject Pakistan’s authority over the region, calling it illegitimate. In response, Islamabad has carried out a campaign of repression marked by forced disappearances, targeted killings, and the silencing of activists and community leaders.

In Pakistan’s tribal northwest, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is also waging its own violent campaign against the state, regularly launching attacks that have killed hundreds of security personnel in recent years.