Pakistan and Iran went through an atmosphere of diplomatic and military tension after both countries exchanged missile strikes using drones against specific targets in border villages. Iran has begun targeting sites it said belong to the Jaish al-Adl group in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, as Tehran says that this group has its headquarters in Pakistani territory to attack Iranian territory.
On the other hand, Pakistan responded in kind and targeted 7 sites in 3 different villages that it said belonged to the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front, which are armed groups seeking broader independence for the Balochistan region from Pakistan.
From time to time, the two countries exchange accusations of supporting armed organizations or not taking the required measures to prevent any attacks that come from the territory of one of them against the other country, or using these territories as a safe haven for those organizations.
The following are the most prominent anti-Pakistan Baloch groups, which Islamabad says are working against them from Iranian territory:
Balochistan Liberation Army (Balochistan National Army)
An armed ethnic nationalist organization composed mostly of members of the Marri and Bugti tribes, fighting against the Pakistani government for greater regional independence for the Pakistani province of Balochistan. In 2006, it was classified on the terrorist lists in Pakistan and Britain.
The organization, also known as the Balochistan National Army, was established in 2000 and has carried out numerous armed operations, using IEDs, and small arms attacks against institutions and facilities of the Pakistani government and foreign workers in Balochistan.
There are those who consider that the establishment of the organization is a return to the previous Baloch ethnic rebellion movements, specifically the Independent Balochistan Movement, which was active from 1973 to 1977, and which was considered the oldest and most influential organization among the Baloch ethnic movements.
The operations and movements of the Balochistan Liberation Army from 2000 to 2003 were largely undocumented, but in May 2003, it carried out a series of attacks that resulted in the deaths of policemen and other civilian residents.
One year later, the Balochistan Liberation Army attacked Chinese workers who were working in government projects and private companies operating under government protection. The Pakistani army responded to these operations by deploying about 20,000 additional soldiers in Balochistan to confront armed groups and organizations, and protect government institutions and foreign workers in the region. .
The conflict between the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Pakistani state intensified after the attempted assassination of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, to which the Pakistani army responded with more severe operations against the organization, in addition to classifying it on the terrorist lists in 2006.
In August of the same year, Pakistani forces killed the Baloch leader, Sardar Akbar Khan Bugti. In November 2007, Mir Palash Mary, two of the most influential people in Balochistan, were killed.
The agreements between Pakistan and China to develop the Pakistani port of Gwadar in Balochistan, overlooking the Arabian Sea, have increased the intensity of the conflict, as the Balochistan Liberation Army believes that these agreements validate its “grievances” with the Pakistani government, which it claims monopolizes the natural resources in Balochistan, and ethnically discriminates among citizens in Territory.
In September 2008, the Balochistan Liberation Army, Balochistan Liberation Front, Baloch Republican Army, and the Pakistani government announced a ceasefire, with negotiations to end the conflict.
But the ceasefire ended after the Balochistan Liberation Army withdrew from the agreement in January 2009 because it was dissatisfied with the Pakistani government's failure to take practical steps to start negotiations.
After the death of the leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, in 2014, disagreements occurred within the organization, which led to the defection of a number of the sons of the organization’s leader, Bakhsh Marri, and the United Baloch Army (UPA) was then formed.
The Balochistan Liberation Army includes the Majeed Brigade, which is considered the group carrying out “suicide” operations in the organization, and one of its most prominent attacks was the “suicide” bombing that targeted a Chinese institute at Karachi University in the Sindh province of southern Pakistan in April 2022.
In September 2023, Bashir Zeb - who leads the Balochistan Liberation Army - sent, through a videotape, a message primarily to international powers, and in particular to China, where he called for refraining from partnering with Pakistan in exploiting Balochistan’s resources, and suggested that these countries establish Relations with the Baloch people only after Pakistan's withdrawal.
Balochistan Liberation Front
It is an armed Baloch ethnic organization, fighting against the Pakistani government for an "independent Baloch state" similar to what other Baloch organizations are demanding, and its attacks are concentrated in the Pakistani province of Balochistan.
It was founded in Syria in 1964, and began its armed activity 4 years after its founding. It also fought against the Iranian government alongside Iranian Baloch groups in what was called at the time the Iranian Baloch Revolution, which some sources say was supported by the Iraqi regime at the time.
But the Iranian "Baloch Revolution" stopped in 1973 after negotiations with the Shah's regime. In the same year, after the end of the conflict in Iran, the Balochistan Liberation Front and other Baloch groups turned to fighting and inciting rebellion against the Pakistani state, demanding the independence of the Pakistani province of Balochistan.
As a result of the escalation of the conflict in the region, the Pakistani government deployed 80,000 soldiers to fight Baloch organizations, which forced some of them to flee to Iran, including the Balochistan Liberation Front.
According to some sources, the Soviet Union helped the Balochistan Liberation Front to regroup its ranks, which allowed it to return again to Balochistan, and it remained without carrying out public activities after the end of that phase of the rebellion in 1977 until 2004.
After the conflict flared up again in 2004, the organization reappeared before public opinion when gunmen killed 3 Chinese foreign workers working in a Pakistani development project in Balochistan, and the operation was attributed to the Balochistan Liberation Front.
The organization is led by Allah Nisar Baloch, who is believed to be responsible for the return of the Balochistan Liberation Front in 2004 to armed action against the Pakistani government. He was arrested in 2005 by Pakistani forces and released in 2015.
At one time, the Balochistan Liberation Front and the Balochistan Liberation Army focused on attacking journalists. According to one source, out of a total of 38 journalists killed in Balochistan from 2007 to 2014, the two organizations claimed responsibility for the killing of 27 of these journalists.
A demonstration organized by residents in Balochistan province in 2016 in support of the Pakistani army against India (French)
United Baloch Army
An armed Baloch ethnic organization fighting against the Pakistani government for the independence of the Balochistan region. It was formed in 2010 after its separation from the Balochistan Liberation Army. It is classified in Pakistan and Switzerland on terrorist lists. Its leader, Mehran Marri, who holds British citizenship, was arrested in November 2017 and banned from entering Switzerland for life.
The Baloch Republican Army merged with the United Baloch Army in January 2022, to form the Balochistan National Army. The dissolution of both organizations was announced after the establishment of the new organization, which was headed by Gulza Imam and was arrested by Pakistani forces in April 2023.
The Balochistan National Army is considered one of the first Baloch organizations to expand its attacks to include attacks outside the Balochistan province, as it carried out a bombing operation in the capital of the Punjab province, “Lahore”, in January 2022.
Baloch National Freedom Movement Alliance
Known as "Baloch Raji Ajohi Sanjar", it is an alliance of 3 armed Baloch nationalist organizations (Balochistan Liberation Army, Balochistan Liberation Front, and Balochistan National Army). The Baloch National Freedom Movement alliance aims to unify the power of armed Baloch organizations in confronting the Pakistani state, which is the alliance The first is formed by Baloch organizations.
Founded in November 2018, it was the idea of Allah Nisar Baloch, leader of the Balochistan Liberation Front, as he met with these organizations before announcing the alliance. Initially, the coalition included the Balochistan Liberation Front and the Baloch Republican Army, but after joining the United Baloch Army and forming the Balochistan National Army under the leadership of Gulzar Imam, it became the participating organization in the coalition.
According to coalition statements, the main reason for its establishment was the growing feeling among Baloch separatist nationalist groups that the differences between them had only weakened the insurgency movement. It also gives some flexibility to the organizations participating in the coalition and allows resources to be shared and pooled.
After the arrest of Gulzar Imam, the leader of the Balochistan National Army, in April 2023, the organization announced, through its spokesman, Murid Baloch, that it had separated from the coalition after revealing what he called “conspiracies to divide the organization.”
Source: websites