A passenger train, Jaffar Express, was attacked in southwestern Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Tuesday, injuring the train driver and leading to hundreds of passengers being taken hostage. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group seeking independence for Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. According to a report by Reuters, the group also stated that it had killed 20 soldiers and shot down a drone.
In a statement, the BLA said, “The Baloch Liberation Army has carried out a strategic operation in Mashkaf, Dhadar, Bolan, seizing control of the Jaffar Express by derailing it.”
Also read: Opened fire, blew up track: How BLA militants hijacked train in Pakistan’s Balochistan
Who are Baloch?
The Baloch people are an ethnic group spread across Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. The region they inhabit, covering parts of all three countries, is about the size of France. The Pakistani province of Balochistan is the largest section, followed by Iran’s Sistan and Balochistan province. The region is mountainous and arid, with a sparse population of approximately nine million Balochs, who are primarily organized into tribes rather than identifying with a single nation-state.
What is Balochistan Liberation Army?
The BLA has accused Pakistan of annexing Balochistan against the will of its people, claiming that the region’s former ruler, the Khan of Kalat, was forced to sign the instrument of accession in March 1948. The group, which is classified as a terrorist organization by both the US and Pakistan, has waged a long-running insurgency against the Pakistani government, demanding independence for Balochistan, a province rich in natural resources.
The militants argue that the federal government exploits Balochistan’s mineral and oil wealth while the ethnic Baloch population faces marginalization and economic hardship. Meanwhile, security forces operating in the region have been accused of human rights violations and enforced disappearances targeting the Baloch community.
A decades-long insurgency in Balochistan by separatist militant groups has led to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region, pressing demands for a share in mineral-rich resources. The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan. It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the South Asian nation’s government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.
The recent rise in terrorism in Pakistan has been largely driven by increased activity from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is aligned with the Afghan Taliban. The number of deaths linked to the group nearly doubled between 2023 and 2024. In 2024, the TTP carried out 482 attacks, resulting in 558 fatalities, making it the third deadliest terrorist organization globally. This escalation follows a period of reduced activity between 2017 and 2021. The number of attacks attributed to the TTP reached a record high in 2024, with fatalities at their highest level since 2011. The group’s operations are mainly concentrated along Pakistan’s northern border with Afghanistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where 96 percent of its attacks took place.
As per a report by Global Terrorism Index 2025, the four terrorist groups responsible for the most deaths globally in 2024 were Islamic State (IS), Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and al-Shabaab.
The Global Terrorism Index 2025 report also noted that Pakistan recorded the second-largest increase in terrorism deaths in 2024, with the toll rising by 45 per cent to 1,081.