KARACHI:
There has been a visible decline in high-profile, mass-casualty terrorist attacks in Balochistan, which is partly attributed to a major setback suffered by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), after two senior commanders of its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, were killed abroad under mysterious circumstances. The Express PAkGazette found out.
Security analysts say the back-to-back eliminations have opened a hole in the BLA’s command and control structure and weakened the operational advantage of its allied network, the Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS).
Formed in November 2019, BRAS is a group of Baloch terrorist groups, including the BLA and BLF, created to pool resources for suicide attacks and urban wars against the state.
The BLA and other Baloch groups have been officially designated as ‘Fitna al Hindustan’, as the government claims they are acting as proxies for India, which wants to destabilize Pakistan through a hybrid war.
Sources said Captain Rahman Gul, also known as Gul Rahman and Ustad Mureed, a senior commander of the Majeed Brigade, was killed on September 17, 2025 in Afghanistan’s Helmand province after being attacked by unidentified gunmen in Sangin district. He was the last surviving member of the three-man BRAS Command Council.
Described by sources as one of the most dangerous figures within the BLA hierarchy, Gul served as deputy commander of the Majeed Brigade, headed the BRAS suicide squad, and was second in command within the BRAS leadership. He was the mastermind behind the Jaffar Express train hijacking in March 2025. Gul’s murder dealt a blow to the group’s strategic planning and suicide attack infrastructure, the sources added.
The second senior BLA commander to be eliminated was Jaafar, also known as Amin and Mulla Amin, who headed the specially constituted “Fateh Squad” of the Majeed Brigade, tasked with carrying out suicide attacks and urban warfare. He was killed in the third week of November 2025 in the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan.
Jaafar was attacked in a remote mountainous area while returning from a clandestine training site used to prepare suicide bombers, including agents trained to attack trains. He had assumed leadership of the Fateh squad after the assassination of Rahman Gul.
Hailing from Balochistan’s Harnai district, security analysts described Jaafar as a key operational planner with a central role in coordinating high-impact urban attacks. His assassination, which came immediately after Gul’s death, further eroded the Majeed Brigade’s ability to mount coordinated suicide and guerrilla-style operations.
Security analysts said the elimination of the two commanders has crippled the BLA’s suicide attack network and disrupted its cross-border operational structure, indicating growing pressure on militant leaders operating from hideouts outside Pakistan. Sources said sustained intelligence-led operations have reduced the operational space available to terrorist networks, eroding the depth of their leadership, a trend reflected in the notable decline in terrorist activity across Balochistan.
The killing of BLA commander Rahman Gul in Afghanistan adds to a growing body of evidence, lending credence to Islamabad’s concerns that the neighboring country is being used by terrorist groups, particularly the TTP and the BLA, as a launching pad for attacks against Pakistan.
Intelligence has confirmed that the BLA and other Baloch militant groups maintain a presence in Afghanistan, with senior leaders hiding in Kandahar and Kabul. The Ain-o-Mina area in Kandahar remains a key base, while the terrorists in Kabul are embedded in civilian towns such as Pul-e-Khishti and Wazir Akbar Khan, according to sources.
Sources said the BLA training camps are located in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province, allowing cross-border movement between Iran and Pakistan. Two major operational bases in the Naghai and Sangin areas of Helmand province continue to be used to launch attacks against Pakistan, posing a persistent security threat.
Sources further stated that intelligence assessments have uncovered an expanding coordination network linking multiple terrorist groups including TTP-Jamaatul Ahrar, Majeed Brigade and other transnational organisations. The network aims to carry out attacks in Balochistan as well as target Chinese interests associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
According to sources, meetings involving the Mullah Wafa Group of TTP-Jamaatul Ahrar and the Majeed Brigade took place in Iran during 2024 and early 2025. In the months following these engagements, there was an increase in attacks targeting Chinese engineers and related interests within Pakistan.
Sources further said that during a TTP Shura meeting in early March, Jamaatul Ahrar was instructed to establish an operational presence in Balochistan and carry out terrorist activities in coordination with the Majeed Brigade. Under this agreement, Jamaatul Ahrar agreed to fully cooperate with the BLA in attacks on CPEC projects and Chinese citizens, while refraining from publicly claiming responsibility for such incidents.
Sources linked Jamaatul Ahrar, which had briefly broken away from the TTP, to planning the Basham terror attack against Chinese nationals in March 2024, saying preparations began even before the group formally rejoined the TTP. After rejoining, planning reportedly continued with the approval of TTP chief Noor Wali and a decision was made to avoid using the TTP name and instead claim such attacks under the banner of Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP). Planning for the attack on Basham ended in Kandahar, the sources added.
Sources further revealed that Shaheen Baloch, who was previously linked with both the Islamic State of Khorasan and the BLA before joining Jamaatul Ahrar, was appointed head of the TTP’s Makran zone. He reportedly maintained contact with BLA terrorist Zamran Kundi and traveled to Iran several times in February 2024.
Shaheen Baloch was also said to have maintained direct contact with Mufti Burhan Swati Yousafzai, a senior Jamaatul Ahrar leader from Swat who was later appointed Naib Amir Central following the group’s reconciliation with the TTP. Burhan Swati reportedly visited Balochistan twice in February 2024, while Shaheen Baloch traveled to Kandahar to meet him.
Meanwhile, senior BLA figures Nadeem Baloch and Hussain Dashti alias Rais Gachki, operating from Iran and Kandahar, met Jamaatul Ahrar chief Umar Makram Khorasani and his associates.
These commitments culminated in a formal understanding to share manpower, weapons and logistical support for terrorist operations in Balochistan. A coordination committee was later created to facilitate cooperation between the two groups.
Following these developments, multiple meetings were reported to have been held in Balochistan. Sources said that as part of the plan, 100-150 terrorists started infiltrating Balochistan from Afghanistan, with the first group entering the province on April 21, 2025.
