The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) is an ethnic-separatist militant organization founded in Damascus, Syria in 1964. Four years after its formation, the group joined the Iranian Balochi Revolt which was an insurgency of Balochi groups against the Government of Iran. Upon negotiating an end to the fighting with the Shah of Iran in 1973, the militant organization then turned towards inciting insurgency against the state of Pakistan. The BLF is fighting against the Government of Pakistan for an independent Balochi state. Pakistan’s terrorism monitoring authority “NACTA” added the BLF to its criminal organization’s list on September 8, 2010. The BLF also works in alliance with other Baloch militant groups to spread insurgency in Pakistan.
Leadership
Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch was born in October 1968 in Mashkai, Awaran district of Pakistan. He started his career as a political activist and founded Baloch Student Organization (BSO-Azad) in February 2002. BSO-Azad openly advocated an armed struggle against Pakistan. In 2003, Dr. Nazar went underground to join the insurgents who were involved in armed conflict in Pakistan. The law enforcement agencies of Pakistan arrested Nazar in March 2005 but later released him on the condition that he would stay away from separatist militants, which he violated. Currently, Allah Nazar Baloch is leading the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).
Spokesperson
Major Gwahram Baloch is acting as the spokesperson for the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF). Although not much is known about Gwahram’s early years he has been staying in the limelight for a few years now because of his occasional interviews with Indian media. The most popular interview that Gwahram gave to Manish Rai, a journalist from Views Around (VA) News Agency, was from an undisclosed location in Balochistan.
Geographical Location
The Government of Pakistan claimed that militants affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) are majorly based in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan. Thus, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, Pakistani officials ordered the killings of Baloch rebels in the Kandahar province. As a result, the majority of these insurgents moved into the Iranian provinces of Sistan and Balochistan located in the Makran area. From there some of these terrorists then returned and regrouped in Pakistani Balochistan as well. However, BLF mainly operates out of Southeastern Iran.
Alliance
All the armed Baloch organizations are on the same page for the independence of Balochistan. However, some of these militant groups formed an umbrella organization in 2018 called “Balochistan Raaji Ajoi Sangar (BRAS)”. This organization comprises of Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), Baloch Liberation Amry (BLA), Balochistan Republican Guards, Balochistan Republican Army, United Baloch Army, and Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA). Under BRAS, these militant groups combine their efforts to strategize their operations against Pakistan. The latest example of a terrorist operation carried out by the allied organizations of BRAS is the BLA twin attack on the Panjgur and Noshki Frontier Corps (FC) camps.
Resources
- As a member of the Balochistan Raaji Ajoi Sangar (BRAS), the Balochistan Liberation Front gets funded for carrying out terrorist activities against the state of Pakistan by the Indian Intelligence Agency “Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)”.
- Smuggling is another source of income for the BLF as Balochistan serves as a key smuggling route for a wide number of products including weapons and drugs like
- The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) conducts operations by using rockets, IEDs, and small arms which it obtains from the funds it gets via RAW and smuggling. BLF also employs leftover weapons from prior conflicts in the
Major Attacks
- May 2, 2004: Attack on Chinese Foreign Workers working on the Gwadar port (3 killed)
- July 27, 2013: Attack on Pakistani Coast Guard check post near (7 killed)
- April 11, 2015: Attack on laborers working on Pakistani Government sponsored dam (20 killed)
- January 25, 2022: Attack on security forces outpost in Dasht area of Kech (17 killed)
Social Media Handles
- Official media cell of Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF)
- Official Twitter account of Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch (BLF Leader)
- Official Twitter account of Major Gwahram Baloch (BLF Spokesperson) formed in July 2022
- Official but suspended the Twitter account of Gwahram Baloch
