Balochistan Liberation Front

Balochistan Liberation Front
name	Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF)
Date of establishment	1964 AD
Founder	Jumma Khan Marri
Leaders	Allah Nazar Baloch
Goals	Baloch Nationalism

The Balochistan Liberation Front (Urdu: بلوچستان لبریشن فرنٹ؛, Balochi: بلۏچستان آجوییءِ مئیدان) is a paramilitary group that operates in the Balochistan region in southwestern Asia. This group was founded by Jumma Khan Marri in 1964 in Damascus and played an important role in the 1968-1973 uprising in Sistan and Balochistan province of Iran and the 1973-1977 rebellion in Balochistan province of Pakistan. However, this group's rebellion in Pakistan and Iran failed and the status of this group was unknown until 2004. This group re-emerged in 2004 after Allah Nazar Baloch took over the group's command in 2003, and since then this group has claimed responsibility for attacks on civilians, journalists, government officials, and military personnel.

Foundation

This group was founded by Jumma Khan Marri in 1964 in Damascus, Syria. Four years after its formation, this group participated in the Baloch uprising against the government of Iran. During this period, the government of Iraq openly supported them and provided them with weapons and operational support. However, after five years of war, the Liberation Front and other Baloch paramilitary groups were destroyed by Iran. The paramilitary groups negotiated to end the war with the government of Iran and Iraq stopped its public support for them [2].

Objectives

The Balochistan Liberation Front is a nationalist and separatist organization to create an independent Baloch country. Its current leader, Allah Nazar Baloch, has stated that he wanted this front to become a powerful and influential political party rather than a paramilitary group to persuade Pakistan, by diplomacy, to recognize Balochistan as an independent country.

Rebellion in Pakistan

After the end of the conflict with Iran, the Liberation Front and other Baloch paramilitary groups started a rebellion against the government of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977. Initially, the government of Iraq secretly provided them and other paramilitary groups with weapons and ammunition. On February 10, 1973, the government of Pakistan raided the embassy of Iraq in Islamabad and discovered boxes of small arms and ammunition that were apparently in the possession of the Liberation Front and other paramilitary groups. In response, the government of Pakistan launched a military operation against them that drove them out of Balochistan to Afghanistan by the end of 1974 [3].

Afghanistan was a refuge for all anti-Pakistani paramilitary groups and it was estimated that from 1975 to 1980, it provided 875,000$ annually to their members stationed in Afghanistan. When they were exiled in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union helped the Liberation Front to reorganize. This paramilitary group rebelled against the government of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and this rebellion ended in November 1977 with the victory of the government of Pakistan. From 1977 to 2004, the status of this group was unknown. However, this paramilitary group did not dissolve and in 2004, after Allah Nazar Baloch took command in 2003, it reappeared.

In 2015, an Indian journalist reported that he was contacted again by the Balochistan Liberation Front to confirm its growing ties with India [4].

Military Activities

This group has been responsible for attacks on civilians, journalists, government officials, and military personnel in Balochistan since its re-emergence in 2004. This group, along with another terrorist group called the Baloch Liberation Army, has claimed responsibility for killing 27 journalists out of a total of 38 journalists who were killed in Balochistan province since 2007. Some of the other attacks that this group has claimed responsibility for are:

1968: From 1968 to 1973, this group participated in the Baloch uprising in Iran, which ended with negotiations with the government of the time. May 2, 2004: Attacked Chinese workers who were working in the port of Gwadar in Balochistan, a project that this group considers an attempt by the government of Pakistan to colonize Balochistan. (3 killed). January 11, 2005: Attacked a pipeline under the control of the government of Pakistan located in Balochistan. (6 killed) October 11, 2011: A failed attempt to kill Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, the provincial minister, with a bomb. July 27, 2013: Attacked a Pakistani Coast Guard checkpoint near Gwadar. (7 killed) April 11, 2015: Attacked 20 workers involved in the construction of a dam supported by the government of Pakistan. These workers were members of the Border Organization, which was affiliated with the Pakistani security forces. (20 killed). November 16, 2017: The bodies of 15 migrants were found in the city of Turbat. Security officials say the migrants were kidnapped and then killed by armed men while trying to cross the border. The Liberation Front later claimed responsibility for killing 15 migrants. The main planner of the attack, Younis Tawakkali, was killed by Pakistani security forces in November 2017. Younis Tawakkali was one of the eight senior commanders of the Baloch Liberation Front [5]. May 6, 2023: Mohammad Asa, known as Mullah Ibrahim, was killed in a clash between different factions of the Liberation Front over the division of extortion money. Mohammad Asa, known as Mullah Ibrahim, was one of the senior members of this group and had a large bounty on his head by the Pakistani law enforcement agencies. He joined the ranks of the Liberation Front in 2010 and quickly became one of its leaders. He was responsible for attacks on workers involved in development projects, Iranian containers, and Pakistani law enforcement agencies [6].

Pakistan's Attack on Saravan

On January 18, 2024, Pakistan's army attacked Saravan and killed one of the high-ranking commanders of this group, Amchar, the leader of the Balochistan Liberation Front. This group confirmed this and also emphasized revenge and blamed the Pakistani army for the attacks. In these attacks, 3 women and 4 children of non-Iranian nationality were killed [7].

Retaliation for the attack on Saravan

On Sunday, January 27, 2024, unidentified armed men killed 9 non-Iranian nationals in a house in the Sirkhan district of Saravan. The government of Pakistan claims that these armed men were part of the Balochistan Liberation Front group [8].