Pakistan’s Balochistan issue is no longer a slow-burning conflict—it has turned into a raging fire. The Baloch movement is gaining momentum with back-to-back high-profile attacks. Just after a suicide attack on an army convoy in Balochistan’s Kalat district, Baloch militants hijacked the Jaffar Express.

A new and alarming trend is emerging in this resource-rich but troubled province—Baloch women are increasingly becoming suicide bombers. The first such attack was seen in the 2022 Karachi University bombing. Now, these attacks are becoming more frequent, posing a serious challenge to Pakistan’s security forces. As the situation worsens, Pakistan’s military appears to be struggling to find an effective response. The Baloch resistance is no longer just a traditional, male-dominated tribal movement. This week, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) revealed that a woman carried out a suicide attack targeting the Pakistani military. The attacker, Banuk Mahikan Baloch, was a science graduate and a member of the BLA’s elite Majeed Brigade. The group also released her final audio message.

Baloch women are becoming suicide bombers due to a combination of factors, including ongoing mistreatment by Pakistan, deep frustration, and a shift in resistance strategies. Analysts believe that changing times, anger, and despair play a key role. Many of these women have been pushed to the edge after their male family members were forcibly taken away by the Pakistani military. This reflects the evolving nature of Baloch resistance and how it is adapting to new challenges. Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but poorest province, despite being rich in oil and minerals. It has faced underdevelopment for a long time and is now struggling with exploitation by the federal government in Islamabad. Additionally, Pakistan has allowed its close ally to extract Balochistan's resources for its own benefit. Some Baloch groups even believe that Balochistan and Kalat's merger with Pakistan after independence was not legitimate. 

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major infrastructure project backed by China, has become a key issue for the Baloch people. Many locals believe that both China and Pakistan are taking advantage of their resources without giving them much in return. This has led to strong opposition both through peaceful efforts by groups like Mahrang Baloch's Baloch Yakjehti Committee and through armed resistance by militant organisations like the Balochistan Liberation Army. Pakistan has responded with a heavy hand, making it risky for people to speak out. Enforced disappearances of Baloch activists have become common, making protests and dissent increasingly rare.

According to the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, over 5,000 people, mostly men, have gone missing since 2000, leaving their families in distress. In Pakistan, it is rare for women from working-class backgrounds to lead movements. However, with many men imprisoned, women have stepped forward in the Baloch resistance. These women, who are educated professionals, have been deeply affected by personal loss and trauma, driving them to take action in both peaceful and violent ways.

Figures like Dr. Mahrang Baloch and journalist Shammi Deen Baloch have formed civil society groups to encourage dialogue. At the same time, hundreds of women in Balochistan are joining the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), with some even becoming suicide bombers in the fight for independence. Many are choosing to be part of the BLA's suicide squad, known as the Majeed Brigade. The trend began with a suicide bombing at Karachi University in 2022. In April of that year, Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old mother of two with a master's degree, carried out a suicide attack outside the Confucius Institute at the university. The explosion killed three Chinese nationals and a Pakistani driver, while four others were injured. This was the first known case of a female suicide bomber from the BLA.

In June 2022, journalist Sumaiya Qalandrani Baloch, who was engaged to Rehan Baloch—the BLA’s first male suicide bomber—carried out a suicide attack on a Pakistani military convoy in Turbat, Balochistan. Rehan had previously died in a suicide bombing in 2018.

Motivated by personal loss and dedication to the cause, Sumaiya joined the BLA’s Majeed Brigade and became the second known woman to carry out a suicide attack for the movement. The most recent female suicide bombing took place on March 2, just a week before the hijacking of the Jaffar Express. Banuk Mahikan Baloch, a science graduate from Gwadar, targeted a Frontier Corps patrol vehicle in Kalat, Balochistan. The attack killed one person and injured three security personnel. Mahikan had joined the Majeed Brigade four years earlier and carried out the bombing in support of the Baloch liberation cause. A female voice may be heard saying, in an audio clip made public by the BLA, what is believed to be Banuk Mahikan Baloch's final message: "My sacrifice will inspire thousands of Baloch to follow. I have chosen to give my life to free our motherland and bring freedom and prosperity to it". Since 2018, the BLA's Majeed Brigade has been carrying out attacks using men as decoys. Baloch militants mainly target Pakistani and Chinese security forces, infrastructure, and personnel.

The BLA claims that many Baloch women have now volunteered for suicide missions. But why are women stepping forward to lead these attacks? Over the years, the Baloch liberation movement has grown beyond tribal leadership and gained support from the educated middle class. This shift is clear from the professional backgrounds of the women involved in these attacks.

Yasmeen, the wife of Aslam Baloch, the founder of the Majeed Brigade, encouraged women to join the movement in a 2019 interview with a local media outlet. She believed that "the social barriers in Balochistan's patriarchal society needed to be broken" and stressed that "freedom could not be achieved without women's participation." Strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney considers female involvement in suicide attacks a recent trend. He describes it as a clear outcome of "desperation and frustration among the Baloch people."

Brahma Chellaney stated to India Today TV that "the role of female suicide bombers is becoming important, especially to inflict maximum damage and generate widespread fear, because it's very difficult to control female suicide bombers," despite the fact that Pakistani security forces typically target young Baloch men.

"This is the only way the Baloch Liberation Army and other pro-militant groups have been able to target Chinese interests. To do so, they must rely on increasingly sophisticated methods," Brahma Chellaney told India Today TV. "Chinese projects and nationals are protected by multiple layers of security, sometimes four or five rings deep. To penetrate these security rings, the Baloch groups are forced to adopt these innovative tactics," Chellaney added. Since 2011, suicide bombings by Baloch militants have killed at least 350 people in Pakistan, with around 15 of these attacks carried out by Baloch women suicide bombers. The Pakistani Army is fighting on multiple fronts, including a war against the Pakistani Taliban in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has significantly strained its capabilities. 

The Baloch insurgency has dealt a heavy blow to the Pakistan Army, with the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies reporting that 685 Pakistani security personnel were killed in 2024 alone, marking it as the deadliest year for the military in a decade, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has also been targeting Chinese interests, including a suicide attack in March 2024 that killed five Chinese engineers in northwestern Pakistan, this poses a serious threat to the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and disrupts Beijing’s strategic investments, Pakistan and its leadership are facing repeated setbacks without much success in stopping them, at the same time, more Baloch women are now joining as suicide bombers in their fight to "liberate" Balochistan.