The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) launched a deadly attack on a convoy associated with the controversial Saindak mining project, killing at least seven Pak military personnel and injuring eleven others in Kalat’s Mangchar area on Tuesday.
The attack, which took place in the evening near Mangchar Bazaar, directly targeted the military escort protecting the convoy of thirty vehicles linked to a Chinese company operating in Pak-occupied-Balochistan. According to the BLA, the operation was carried out in a well-coordinated manner, beginning with a remote-controlled IED that completely destroyed a military vehicle. This was followed by a barrage of heavy weaponry, inflicting severe casualties on Pak forces.
The second phase of the attack saw BLA sarmachars targeting vehicles in the Saindak Project convoy with grenade launchers and heavy arms, leading to the disabling of eleven vehicles. A driver was briefly detained but later released unharmed, as he was a Baloch.
The BLA, in its statement, reiterated its firm stance against the “exploitative projects” imposed on POB by the occupying Pak Army and foreign entities. It warned that companies involved in the plunder of POB’s rich natural resources would face severe consequences if they did not immediately cease operations and leave the region. The group specifically named Saindak, Reko Diq, and other mineral extraction ventures as illegitimate projects imposed without the consent of the Baloch people.
Deadly BLA Ambush
This latest attack underscores the deep-rooted resentment and resistance of Baloch nationalists against Pakistan’s brutal colonial policies in POB. For decades, Islamabad has treated the resource-rich province as an economic colony, extracting its wealth while subjecting its people to military atrocities, enforced disappearances, and systematic repression. The heavy presence of the Pak military, acting as a security force for foreign investors rather than protectors of the local population, has only fueled greater hostility.
Baloch pro-independence groups have consistently warned foreign investors and their local collaborators to refrain from entering into any economic or trade agreements with the Paki establishment, which are an occupying force. Tuesday’s attack sends a clear message—those who aid in the exploitation of POB’s resources will be treated as enemies of the Baloch people.
The Paki establishment’s reliance on brute force to suppress the Baloch freedom movement has done little to quell the resistance. If anything, such attacks demonstrate that the struggle for Balochistan’s liberation remains far from over, and as long as Pakistan continues its exploitative and oppressive policies, it will face unrelenting resistance.