Baloch Liberation Army Targets Pakistani Army Convoy In IED Attack, 10 Personnel Killed
Ten paramilitary personnel were killed when their vehicle was struck by a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) announced on Friday.
According to AFP, the incident occurred early morning near Margat Chowki, approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Quetta, when a security vehicle hit a roadside bomb.
The BLA, which has been engaged in a longstanding insurgency against the Pakistani state, claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, the group said its “freedom fighters” targeted an “occupying Pakistani Army convoy” using a remote-controlled IED, completely destroying the vehicle and killing all 10 personnel on board.
#BREAKING
10 Pakistani Army personnel killed in a remote-controlled IED blast by Baloch Liberation Army in Margat, Quetta
Vehicle completely destroyed in the attack. Baloch fighters continue to strike at occupying forces..#Pakistan losing control in Balochistan https://t.co/aGtS6hzHjF pic.twitter.com/MkCupuFBij— Nabila Jamal (@nabilajamal_) April 25, 2025
Among the deceased were Subedar Shehzad Ameen, Naib Subedar Abbas, Sepoy Khalil, Sepoy Zahid, and Sepoy Khurram Saleem, according to the BLA’s statement.
The militant group further asserted that their operations against what they described as the “occupying enemy army” would continue with greater intensity.
Violence in Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran has been escalating, with separatist groups intensifying their campaign against the Pakistani government, accusing it of exploiting the region’s natural resources.
This attack follows another roadside bomb explosion a day earlier in Kalat district, which killed three people. Additionally, on Wednesday, two security personnel assigned to protect a polio vaccination team were shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Teeri area of Mastung district, Assistant Commissioner Akram Harifal informed the media.
In a separate incident in March, BLA militants sabotaged the Jaffar Express train carrying around 400 passengers by using explosives to derail it and hijack it near the mountainous regions of Gudalar and Piru Kunri, approximately 160 kilometers from Quetta.
The Baloch Liberation Army was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States in 2019.