KARACHI:
There has been a visible decline in high-profile and mass-casualty terrorist attacks in Balochistan, partly attributed to a major setback suffered by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) after two senior commanders of its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, were killed abroad under mysterious circumstances. The Express Pakinomist has learnt.
Security analysts say the back-to-back eliminations have dented the BLA’s command-and-control structure and dulled the operational edge of its allied network, the Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS).
Formed in November 2019, BRAS is an umbrella of Baloch terror outfits – including BLA and BLF – created to pool resources for suicide attacks and urban warfare against the state.
The BLA and other Baloch groups have been officially designated as ‘Fitna al Hindustan’ as the government claims they are acting as proxies for India, which wants to destabilize Pakistan through hybrid warfare.
Sources said Captain Rahman Gul, also known as Gul Rahman and Ustad Mureed, a senior Majeed Brigade commander, was killed on September 17, 2025 in Afghanistan’s Helmand province after being attacked by unidentified gunmen in Sangin district. He was the last surviving member of the three-man BRAS Command Council.
Described as one of the most dangerous figures in the BLA hierarchy by sources, Gul served as second-in-command of the Majeed Brigade, headed BRAS’s suicide squad and was second-in-command in the BRAS leadership. He was the mastermind behind the Jaffar Express train hijacking in March 2025. Gul’s killing dealt a major blow to the group’s strategic planning and suicide attack infrastructure, sources added.
The other senior BLA commander who had been eliminated was Jaafar, also known as Amin and Mulla Amin, who headed the Majeed Brigade’s specially formed “Fateh Squad”, tasked with carrying out suicide attacks and urban warfare. He was killed in the third week of November 2025 in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province.
Jaafar was attacked in a remote mountain area while returning from a secret training site used to prepare suicide bombers, including operators trained to attack trains. He had taken over the leadership of Fateh Squad after the killing of Rahman Gul.
Jaafar, a native of Balochistan’s Harnai district, was described by security analysts as a key operational planner with a central role in coordinating metropolitan attacks. His killing, which came on the heels of Gul’s death, further eroded the Majeed Brigade’s ability to launch coordinated suicide and guerrilla-style operations.
Security analysts said the elimination of the two commanders has crippled the BLA’s suicide attack network and disrupted its cross-border operational structure, indicating increasing pressure on militant leadership operating from hideouts outside Pakistan. Sources said sustained intelligence-based operations have reduced the operational space available to terrorist networks and eroded their leadership depth, a trend reflected in the noticeable decline in terrorist activity in Balochistan.
The killing of BLA commander Rahman Gul in Afghanistan adds to a growing body of evidence and lends credence to Islamabad’s concerns that the neighboring country is being used by terrorist groups, particularly the TTP and BLA, as a launching pad for attacks against Pakistan.
Intelligence has confirmed that the BLA and other militant Baloch groups maintain a presence in Afghanistan, with senior leaders hiding in Kandahar and Kabul. Ain-o-Mina area in Kandahar remains a key base, while in Kabul terrorists are embedded in civilian localities like Pul-e-Khishti and Wazir Akbar Khan, according to sources.
Sources said BLA training camps are located in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province, enabling cross-border movements between Iran and Pakistan. Two major operational bases in Helmand province’s Naghai and Sangin areas continue to be used to launch attacks into Pakistan, posing an ongoing security threat.
Sources further claimed that intelligence assessments have revealed an expanding coordination network linking multiple terror outfits, including TTP-Jamaatul Ahrar, Majeed Brigade and other transnational organizations. The network is aimed at carrying out attacks in Balochistan as well as targeting Chinese interests linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
According to sources, meetings involving the Mullah Wafa group of the TTP-Jamaatul Ahrar and the Majeed Brigade were held in Iran during 2024 and early 2025. In the months following these engagements, there was an increase in attacks targeting Chinese engineers and related interests in Pakistan.
Sources further said that during a meeting of TTP Shura in early March, Jamaatul Ahrar was instructed to establish an operational presence in Balochistan and to carry out terrorist activities in coordination with Majeed Brigade. Under this arrangement, Jamaatul Ahrar agreed to cooperate fully with the BLA in attacks on CPEC projects and Chinese nationals, while refraining from publicly accepting responsibility for such incidents.
Sources linked Jamaatul Ahrar – which had briefly broken away from the TTP – to the planning of the March 2024 Basham terror attack on Chinese nationals, saying preparations began even before the group formally rejoined the TTP. After the rejoining, planning reportedly continued with the approval of TTP chief Noor Wali, with a decision taken to avoid using the TTP name and instead claim such attacks under the Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) banner. Planning for the Basham attack was completed in Kandahar, sources added.
Sources further revealed that Shaheen Baloch – who was previously associated with both Islamic State Khorasan and BLA before joining Jamaatul Ahrar – was appointed as the head of TTP’s Makran zone. He allegedly maintained contact with BLA terrorist Zamran Kundi and traveled to Iran several times in February 2024.
Shaheen Baloch is also said to have maintained direct contact with Mufti Burhan Swati Yousafzai, a senior Jamaatul Ahrar leader from Swat, who was later appointed Central Naib Amir after the group’s reconciliation with the TTP. Burhan Swati reportedly visited Balochistan twice in February 2024, while Shaheen Baloch traveled to Kandahar to meet him.
Meanwhile, senior BLA figures Nadeem Baloch and Hussain Dashti, alias Rais Gachki – operating from Iran and Kandahar – held meetings with Jamaatul Ahrar chief Umar Makram Khorasani and his associates.
These engagements culminated in a formal understanding to share manpower, weapons and logistical support for terrorist operations in Balochistan. A coordination committee was subsequently set up to facilitate cooperation between the two groups.
Following this development, several meetings were reportedly held inside Balochistan. Sources said that as part of the plan, between 100 and 150 terrorists began infiltrating Balochistan from Afghanistan, with the first group entering the province on April 21, 2025.
