Timeline: Attacks claimed by BLA over the last one year – Pakistan

The rescue operation to release the scores of people held hostage by terrorists who hijacked the Jaffer Express train near Balochistan’s Bolan district continued on Wednesday, a day after the perpetrators took over 400 people hostage, including numerous security personnel.

The train, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, came under attack at around 1pm yesterday between the Paneer and Peshi railway stations, near Railway Tunnel No 8, located near Mushkaf. According to reports, the attackers martyred a number of security personnel and hijacked the train. They then started checking passengers’ identities and took some of them hostage.

Although hampered by the remoteness of the area, security forces said they had launched a massive operation to rescue the hostages. So far, 190 passengers have been rescued, as per the latest update by state-run Radio Pakistan. It added that 30 terrorists had been killed by security forces, while the operation to eliminate the remaining assailants was continuing.

There was no confirmation of the total number of casualties, but officials said that at least 10 people — including the driver of the locomotive and eight security personnel — had lost their lives as the forces engaged in a gun battle.

The attack was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a banned terrorist nationalist outfit whose attacks have grown increasingly brazen in recent years. And while it emerged as a key perpetrator of terror attacks last year, Tuesday’s train hijacking is the first time that a terror group has used this tactic.

Overall, the BLA-orchestrated attacks caused 225 fatalities in 2024, according to the Pakistan Security Report. The report added that attacks by various outlawed Baloch insurgent groups, primarily the BLA and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), saw a staggering 119 per cent increase, accounting for 171 incidents in Balochistan.

Here is a timeline of all attacks claimed by the BLA over the last year.

January 30, 2024: The BLA launched three coordinated attacks using rockets and sophisticated weapons in Balochistan’s Mach town, located at a 70km distance from the provincial capital of Quetta.

The police said at least 15 rockets were fired from the nearby mountains that landed and exploded in different areas of Mach. The terrorists also attacked a security forces camp near the central jail and entered the town’s railway station. In nearby Kolpur areas, a hotel and six shops were targeted and set ablaze.

During the ensuing gun battle between security forces and the assailants — which lasted nearly three days — 24 terrorists were killed, the military said. Four law enforcement personnel and two civilians were also martyred in the attack.

March 20, 2024: A group of eight terrorists, belonging to the proscribed BLA, attempted to forcibly enter the Gwadar Port Authority Colony and opened fire. Multiple blasts were also reported in the attack.

According to a statement by Inter-Services Public Relations, all eight terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with the military while two soldiers embraced martyrdom.

The colony, where the attack took place, hosts several government and paramilitary offices. The facility is also a centrepiece of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

March 26, 2024: Turbat was shaken by explosions and firing by terrorists, who, according to officials, aimed to attack PNS Siddique — which is among the biggest naval air stations in Pakistan. However, the officials said that the attack was foiled.

They added that six terrorists were killed outside the Turbat airport boundary in an operation led by a special wing of the FC and the navy’s special services group.

April 13, 2024: Nine passengers hailing from Punjab were killed near Balochistan’s Noshki when gunmen forced them off a bus. The same attackers also killed two people in another car they forced to stop.

According to officials, 10 to 12 armed men had set up a blockade which stopped the Taftan-bound bus. They then went through the passengers’ identity cards, took nine people out — all from eastern Punjab — and fled to the mountains. The victims’ bodies were later found by the police under a bridge about 5km from the Quetta-Taftan Highway N-40.

The attack was later claimed by the BLA, according to the Associated Press.

May 10, 2024: Seven labourers hailing from Punjab were murdered in the coastal town of Sarbandan, east of Gwadar, in their sleep. The victims, who worked at local barber shops, were living in a rented residential quarter when unidentified assailants barged into the place and opened fire.

Following the killing, the Balochistan government announced the arrest of two suspects, with the Counter Terrorism Department saying both were associated with the BLA.

June 23, 2024: Armed terrorists affiliated with the BLA kidnapped at least 14 people from a picnic spot in the Zarghoon area of Harnai district. The picnickers were abducted after they were separated from a crowd following an identity check.

As per Levies Force personnel, the terrorists had taken positions on the nearby hills. They freed four persons in the area and later abandoned their vehicle.

June 27, 2024: As many as 50 terrorists attacked a Frontier Corps (FC) check post guarding the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) oil and gas exploration site in the Kalat district of Balochistan, killing two security personnel.

Officials said the gunmen wanted to take all 20 officers deputed at the post hostage but their attempt was foiled as additional troops were quickly dispatched to the site. They added that the terrorists first attacked an FC camp in the Khaliqabad area of Kalat district and fired rockets.

A spokesperson for the BLA claimed responsibility for the attack.

August 13, 2024: The deputy commissioner of Panjgur was killed in an attack on his vehicle on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway, near Mastung. DC Zakir Hussain Baloch was on his way to Quetta along with the Panjgur Municipal Committee chairman when unknown assailants opened fire.

According to security officials, at least 15 armed men had blocked the road and were checking vehicles passing through the area. They tried to stop the deputy commissioner’s vehicle and opened fire when it sped away.

The Balochistan government said that intelligence information and evidence indicated that the BLA was behind the attack.

August 26-27, 2024: Balochistan witnessed one of the most violent days in its turbulent history. At least 50 people, including 14 security men, lost their lives in different parts of the province as dozens of BLA terrorists affiliated went on a rampage; storming police stations, blowing up railway tracks, and setting fire to almost three dozen vehicles.

The terrorists launched numerous attacks, targeting security personnel as well as civilians, particularly those hailing from Punjab. They attacked police stations, a paramilitary camp in Bela, Levies stations, and blo­cked key roads, including the Coastal Highway. In Musakhail, a district bordering Punjab, the terrorists shot dead 23 people after checking their identity documents.

Separately, the armed forces’ media wing said 21 terrorists were neutralised by the security forces while 14 soldiers were martyred.

October 7, 2024: Two workers from China were killed and eight wounded in a late-night bombing on a Chinese convoy outside the Karachi airport. The attack came on the heels of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, hosted by Islamabad.

The attack was claimed by the BLA.

October 30, 2024: Terrorists affiliated with the BLA killed five private security guards dep­loyed on the construction site of a dam in the Panjgur district of Makran division.

The victims were hired by the contractor for security duty at the dam site in the Promom area of Panjgur, officials said. They added that the assailants, armed with automatic weapons, arrived at the site on motorcycles and attacked the dam site where the victims were guarding the machinery.

November 9, 2024: At least 26 people, including 16 security personnel, were killed after a suicide blast ripped through a railway station in Quetta. Over 60 people were injured.

Officials said the attacker arrived as a passenger carrying a bag, moved into the crowd and detonated the bomb, killing and injuring nearly 100 people. They added that the bomber’s primary target was security personnel on the platform.

The banned BLA claimed responsibility for the blast, stating that its lethal guerilla cell Majeed Brigade had carried out the attack.

November 17, 2024: Seven security personnel were martyred and 18 others wounded in a BLA-orchestrated attack on a check post in the Johan area of Kalat. In its statement, the military said it killed six terrorists while four others were injured.

The terrorists used rockets, hand grenades and automatic heavy weapons before storming the Shah Mardan check post of the Frontier Corps (FC), the ISPR said.

January 5, 2025: At least six people, including five FC personnel, were martyred and 35 others, including children, suffered injuries as an explosive-laden vehicle hit a coach]24 in the Turbat area of Kech district.

According to reports, when the coach reached the new Behman area, on the outskirts of Turbat, the explosive-laden vehicle hit the coach after which they caught fire.

While claiming responsibility for the attack on the coach, which was taking FC personnel from Karachi to Turbat, the banned BLA said its Majeed Brigade carried out the blast.

January 9, 2025: BLA terrorists launched a brazen attack on the main market in Khuzdar’s Zehri district, setting fire to multiple government buildings, including a Levies Force station, Nadra and municipal committee offices and a bank.

According to officials, around 80 terrorists entered the area at about 11pm from nearby mountains, deploying armed men around the bazaar and other locations in the tehsil headquarters of Zehri. They set up checkpoints around the Zehri bazaar and pickets on the mountains to resist any action from security forces. The terrorists stormed the Levies station, took the personnel hostage, ransacked the records, and set the building on fire, damaging part of the structure, furniture and other items.

The armed men later attacked a private bank branch, took the staff hostage and looted over Rs90 million from the strongroom, according to bank officials.

The terrorists also attacked the offices of the Zehri municipal committee, ransacked records, and set the building on fire. The office of the National Dat­a­­base and Registration Autho­rity was also targeted, with official records, computers and other equipment being destroyed.

February 1, 2025: At least 18 soldiers were killed in an overnight insurgent attack in Balochistan’s Kalat district.

A military statement said that the casualties occurred when “terrorists attempted to establish roadblocks” in the area, and that security forces promptly responded. It added that 12 terrorists were killed in the ensuing gun battles. The attack was claimed by BLA.

February 19, 2025: Unidentified gunmen killed seven people travelling to Punjab after off-loading them from a passenger bus, in the Barkhan district of Balochistan. According to officials, a group of around 40 armed men stopped several buses and other vehicles near Rakhani, on the Barkhan-Dera Ghazi Khan Highway.

After disembarking the passengers from the coach, the gunmen opened fire, killing them on the spot. The attackers managed to escape.

The attack, which follows a familiar pattern, was claimed by the BLA.

March 3, 2025: A Frontier Corps personnel was martyred and four others were injured in a suicide attack by a woman bomber on a convoy in Balochistan’s Kalat. The incident occurred on the national highway near the Mughalzai area.

The attack was claimed by a lesser-known faction of the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army, known as the BLA Azad, in a message sent to journalists.