Militant activities, robberies and banditry are endangering commuters and depriving locals of their livelihoods.
“Is the road safe?” Muhammad Ahmed, who was travelling from Quetta to Dera Ismail Khan after 15 long years, asked the bus driver. News over the last few months had not been good; he was concerned.
Nawaz, who has spent years navigating Balochistan’s highways behind the wheel, initially chose to respond cautiously. “Travelling to Dera Ismail Khan in the day is relatively safe,” he said. “Given the current situation though, no highway in this province can be considered completely safe,” he added, almost as an afterthought.
The roads of Balochistan, once feared for their perilous twists and turns, have now become a risky bet for travellers like Ahmed. On February 19, seven people travelling to Punjab were killed on the Barkhan-Dera Ghazi Khan Highway. The passengers — all en route Lahore — were offloaded from the coach, their identity cards were checked and they were subsequently shot dead.
The brutal incident is not the first of its kind. In fact, Balochistan has of late witnessed a spate of attacks targeting those hailing from Punjab. The worsening security situation has significantly disrupted public movement in the province. Rising militancy, lawlessness, and targeted killings, particularly of travellers from Punjab, have created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.
Violence is not the only threat though; highway robberies and banditry are also becoming increasingly common, endangering commuters and depriving locals of their livelihoods.
A timeline of violence
In the first two months of 2025 alone, proscribed Baloch separatist groups, particularly the Bashir Zaib faction of the Baloch Liberation Army, blocked three major highways across the province on four different occasions, carrying out identity checks for hours.
And this is likely to continue. On March 2, the Baloch Raji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an umbrella grouping of Baloch insurgent organisations, announced plans to “intensify the blockade on all important highways of Balochistan to disrupt the logistical, economic, and military interests of the state”.
Last month, militants blocked various points on the Quetta-Sukkur N-65 highway in the mountainous region of Bolan during which they seized three rifles from the security team of Liaqat Lehari, the provincial parliamentary secretary for transportation, as he was returning to the provincial capital from Sibi. Just a day later, a convoy of trucks transporting blaster copper from the Saindak project to Karachi came under attack by militants in the Mangochar area of Kalat district.
Previously, on January 31, a blockade by militants affiliated with the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) resulted in the deaths of 18 security personnel in the Mangchar area of Kalat on the RCD Highway (N-25), which connects Quetta to Karachi. The road is notorious for being the “killer highway” due to the high number of accidents and fatalities it has witnessed.
On the other hand, in August last year, the BLA, in a coordinated attack, killed 23 passengers in the Musakhail district after checking their identities, in what was one of the worst shootings in the region in recent years. This was the second such attack in 2024. Earlier in April, nine passengers were offloaded from a bus near Balochistan’s Noshki city and shot dead after gunmen checked their ID cards.
Nawaz, the bus driver, also recalled to Dawn.com how he encountered militants last month in Daraband — an area known to locals as ilaqa-e-ghair or no man’s land — between Dera Ismail Khan in KP and Balochistan’s Sherani. “I knew about this spot beforehand and diverted my bus toward a security checkpoint, but the security personnel there told us to find another route,” he said.
Stranded and helpless passengers
Amid escalating militancy and the ensuing state clampdown, it is the Baloch people who have found themselves battling alienation and struggling for their human, political and economic rights. The only way they can raise their voices is through protests.
However, these demonstrations usually travel up to the highways, disrupting travel along major routes. According to Balochistan government spokesman Shahid Rind, national highways have been closed 76 times since January 1 for various reasons.
Speaking to Dawn.com, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti lamented that “mobs were blocking national highways and holding the government responsible for enforced disappearances”. He added that action would be taken against respective deputy commissioners for any “incompetence showed in reopening roads”.
In Karachi’s Yousaf Goth, Zahid Baloch, a driver from the Kech district, has seen these closures and blockades one time too many. “Most passengers from the Makran belt travel to Karachi for medical treatment because, even though it is just as far as Quetta, the city is more familiar,” he said. “But now, roads are closed on most days due to protests.”
One of the most affected highways is the Karachi-Quetta route, a crucial artery for the people of Balochistan, many of whom depend on Karachi for medical treatment, business and overseas travel. However, over the past two months, the road has remained closed frequently due to security threats, roadblocks, and protests, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
“I had an appointment for my son at a hospital in Karachi but I had to postpone it three times because the road was closed,” recounted Zainuddin Ahmed, a Quetta-based journalist. “Each time I planned the trip, a new security crisis or protest emerged, making travel impossible,” he lamented.
Like Ahmed, thousands in Balochistan depend on road travel to move in and out of the province due to a lack of affordable alternatives. According to Javed Achakzai, a trader, one-way airfares from Karachi to Quetta have surged from Rs18,000 to Rs60,000 in recent days owing to the surge in demand for air travel following the frequent road closures.
Bearing the brunt
The uncertainties resulting from militant activities, extortion and prolonged security checks have put transporters and drivers in a quandary, forcing many of them to shut down their businesses. Those who continue to operate do so under perpetual threats. Nevertheless, several transport companies have either reduced their services or withdrawn from high-risk routes, severely affecting citizens’ mobility.
According to Nasir Shahwani, spokesperson for the Balochistan Transport Union, passengers are now reluctant to travel. Previously, more than 200 passenger buses operated between Balochistan and Karachi, but this number has now dropped to fewer than 100, dealing a severe blow to the province’s transport sector.
Similarly, the transportation of goods, vegetables, and fruits has been severely disrupted. “Most transporters take loans for their vehicles, and now we are struggling to pay bank instalments,” Shahwani added.
As is, driving on poorly maintained and single-lane highways of Balochistan already is an exhaustingly rough and risky profession with a low payoff.
Mahmood Akhtar, 50, is in charge of the busy Musa Colony bus stop in Quetta. He limps his way through buses and coaches every day, having lost his right foot in an accident at the age of 20.
Six months ago, he lost his son, Maqsood, in a road accident on the Quetta-Sukkur single-lane highway route. Maqsood was a van conductor. “Poverty led us to this job … it is now taking our lives,” the distressed father told Dawn.com.
Madath Sumalani, a truck driver who transports coals from Mach to Punjab, agreed. “It’s not a respectable job,” he said, adding, however, that the transport business was an important source of revenue for the police, hotel business, automobile industries and daily wage workers.
Roads and accidents
Despite the importance of a good transport system, Balochistan’s highways have perpetually remained in a dire state. In his book A Cry for Justice, economist Kaiser Bengali highlights how regions such as Kharan, Washuk, Awaran and parts of Kech lack basic road infrastructure.
Spread over an area of 347,000 sq km, the province lacks dual carriageways, making travel both slow and dangerous.
According to a recent report by Medical Emergency Response Centre 1122, 1,831 road accidents were reported in the province in January 2025, resulting in 39 fatalities and injuries to 2,409 individuals. The accidents occurred in Mastung, Kalat, Lasbela, Chaman, Qila Saifullah, Zhob, Sibi, Loralai, Jaffarabad, Kech, Panjgur, and Khuzdar among others.
Between October 2019 and January 2025, 80 per cent of road accidents on Balochistan’s highways involved motorcyclists, MERC data further showed.
Riaz Raisani, the director of the response centre, pointed out that both drivers and passengers did not follow basic safety precautions. He elaborated that most bikers didn’t wear helmets and safety gloves while driving on highways. Similarly, passengers in small vehicles avoided putting on seat belts.
He added that black spots and sharp curves were also among other prominent reasons behind road accidents.
A dangerous gamble
Despite several government promises, progress on road repairs remains painstakingly slow. Legal efforts have been made to ensure timely construction on the highways, but large sections remain incomplete.
Advocate Ilahi Bakhsh Mengal, who filed a petition regarding delays in the Chaman-Quetta-Karachi highway dual carriageway, stated that the government had allocated Rs19 billion to the National Highway Authority for the route but the NHA had failed to utilise the amount.
Subsequently, a petition was filed in the Balochistan High Court and after several hearings, it ordered the NHA to provide a reason for the underutilisation of the money and immediately begin construction. “Some progress was made after that, but a large portion of the project remains unfinished,” Bakhsh told Dawn.com.
The lack of government action and interest has turned Balochistan’s highways into perilous zones where passengers, transporters, and security personnel are constantly at risk. And with militants, robbers, and frequent protests disrupting travel, the province’s transportation sector is on the verge of collapse.
The urgent need for improved security measures, infrastructure development, and government intervention cannot be overstated. Until these issues are addressed, the roads of Balochistan will remain a dangerous gamble for those who must traverse them.
Header image: An overloaded vehicle on a single carriageway on the Karachi-Quetta highway. — all photos by author
