Three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were among five lives lost as the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) targeted an FC convoy in Balochistan’s Noshki district on Sunday, state media reported.
The BLA emerged as a key perpetrator of terrorist violence in Pakistan in 2024, as frequency of high-intensity attacks by outlawed groups has been increasing in the province, according to security reports.
According to PTV News, security sources said an “explosion and a suicide attack” claimed the lives of three FC personnel and two civilians. In immediate retaliatory action, the security forces killed four terrorists, including the suicide bomber.
“Security forces have blocked off all escape routes for the terrorists,” PTV News quoted security sources as saying. They added that a clearance operation was underway and would continue “till the last terrorist was eliminated”.
Earlier, Noshki Station House Officer (SHO) Zafarullah Sumalani had said that five FC personnel were martyred while at least 12 others were injured in the explosion.
According to SHO Sumalani, evidence from the incident site suggested that a suicide attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the FC convoy.
The injured were being shifted to the FC Camp and Noshki Teaching Hospital, where an emergency had been imposed, the police officer added.
SHO Sumalani feared that the death toll and number of injured would rise since several of the injured were in critical condition.
‘Height of brutality’
The attack drew condemnations from leaders across the country.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the “blast near a bus on the Noshki-Dalbandin Highway” and expressed his grief over the loss of five lives.
In a statement posted by his ministry on X, Naqvi expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
“Targeting innocent people is the height of brutality,” the interior minister said, adding that anti-state elements were “plotting a heinous conspiracy to create instability” in the country.
Naqvi asserted that such cowardly acts could not weaken the nation’s firm resolve.
Denouncing the attack, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti vowed strict action against terrorists.
“Those who play with the peace of Balochistan will be brought to a tragic end,” CM Bugti said in a press release.
“Cowardly attacks cannot lower our morale,” he said. “There is no place for terrorists in Balochistan, peace will be established at all costs.”
CM Bugti vowed that all possible steps will be taken to bring the enemies of peace to justice.
“This war will continue till every last terrorist is eliminated,” the chief minister said, adding that everyone in Balochistan is indebted to those who shed their blood for this homeland.
The Balochistan government also condemned the attack, spokesperson Shahid Rind said in a statement.
“Targeting innocent civilians is a brutal act,” the statement said. Rind prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and expressed condolences to the families of the deceased.
“Enemy elements are trying to destabilise the country,” the statement said. “The people’s morale cannot be lowered through terrorism.”
“We stand with the affected families in their hour of grief,” Rind said.
Uptick in terrorism
Militants in Balochistan, previously engaged in a low-level insurgency, have recently intensified their attacks. The outlawed BLA, in particular, has adopted new tactics to cause higher casualties and directly target Pakistani security forces.
Last year, the interior ministry noted a “significant rise in terrorism incidents and evolving terrorism patterns” since the Afghan Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021, especially in the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s activities in KP, the Baloch nationalist insurgency in Balochistan, and ethno-nationalist violence in Sindh.
Today’s incident comes after a cop was martyred last night while six others were wounded in a blast near a vehicle of Balochistan’s Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) in Quetta.
It also follows the recent Jaffar Express train hijacking near Balochistan’s Sibi area, in which 26 hostages, including 18 security personnel, lost their lives. Five more security personnel were martyred during the operation.
Following the attack, the military vowed to take decisive action against terrorists operating in Balochistan, along with their abettors and facilitators, both inside and outside the country.
Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.
Last month, 18 soldiers were martyred while 23 terrorists were killed in various sanitisation operations in Balochistan within 24 hours, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
February saw a marginal increase in terrorist attacks but witnessed a sharp surge in civilian casualties, according to a report published by the Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Picss).
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources, such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
