Balochistan province has recently witnessed a sharp rise in violence, with over 40 people killed in targeted killings and militant attacks across various districts.
On the morning of August 26, a car explosion occurred at the gate of a security forces camp in Bela after the vehicle collided with it.
Following the attack, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) released photos of two of its suicide bombers, Mahal Baloch and Rizwan Baloch, on its official channel, Hakkal, indicating a change in BLA approach by deployment of a woman attacker.
The BLA claimed responsibility for two deadly attacks that left at least 31 people dead. In Musakhail, a district in Balochistan, 23 people were identified and taken from buses, vehicles, and trucks before being fatally shot. In a separate attack, gunmen killed at least nine people, including four police officers and five civilians, in the Qalat district of Balochistan.
On August 26, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported that 21 terrorists were killed, while 14 soldiers, including four law enforcement officers, were martyred.
Who was Mahal Baloch?
Mahal Baloch was a law student at Turbat University, hailing from the coastal city of Gwadar. According to The Balochistan Post, she was involved in a suicide attack on a FC camp in Bela.
On Thursday, Pakistani security forces reportedly raided Turbat University. Intelligence agencies conducted a search operation in the women’s hostel, questioning students about Mahal Baloch’s presence and life, and searching their rooms.
As per ANI, students claim that security forces interrogated them about Mahal Baloch, also known as Zilan Kurd, who was involved in the recent suicide attack.
This is not the first time educated women from Balochistan have been involved in a suicide attack. In April 2022, Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old mother of two, targeted Karachi University’s Confucius Centre in a suicide bombing, killing four people, including three Chinese instructors. A year later, in June 2023, another woman suicide bomber, Sumaiya Qalandrani Baloch, targeted a convoy of the Pakistani military in the Turbat district of Balochistan.
