On Saturday after residents staged a shutdown and blocked the main RCD Highway following a reported drone attack by the banned BLA in the Naghar area that damaged a mosque and residential properties.
According to local police, the incident involved a drone reportedly operated by the banned BLA. The reported attack caused damage to a local mosque and privately owned houses in Naghar, prompting residents to come out on the streets and protest against the incident.
The reported attack took place overnight, with residents raising concerns over damage to civilian property and a place of worship. Following the incident, shops and businesses in the area remained closed as part of a complete shutter-down strike.
Residents also blocked the main RCD Highway, disrupting traffic along the important regional route. The blockade was described as a protest against the reported attack by BLA and the damage caused to homes and the mosque.
The incident comes against the backdrop of repeated attacks by the BLA across Balochistan, with the group claiming operations against security forces, highways, bridges, commercial vehicles and infrastructure in different parts of the province.
In July, the BLA released details of 48 attacks it said it had carried out between July 1 and July 14 across Balochistan. According to the group’s own statement, the attacks included operations in Mastung, Nushki, Panjgur, Kech, Ziarat, Harnai, Kharan, Washuk, Buleda, Surab, Khuzdar, Kalat, Wadh and Dalbandin. The group claimed attacks on military vehicles, police posts, bridges, mineral-transport vehicles and other infrastructure. Its casualty claims were not independently verified.
In June, the BLA claimed a series of attacks on highways, commercial convoys and vehicles associated with economic projects, saying it had targeted fuel and gas transportation vehicles, mineral-transport vehicles and other traffic. The group also claimed responsibility for damaging two bridges along routes associated with CPEC.
In another campaign covering late June, the BLA claimed 23 operations over 10 days, including highway blockades and attacks on security forces and vehicles. The group said it had established checkpoints on a main highway in Surab and stopped traffic for several hours. Again, the claims made by the organisation regarding casualties and operational success were not independently verified.
The pattern continued into July, when reports documented highway blockades, attacks on security positions and the destruction of bridges and heavy vehicles in several districts. The BLA has described some of these activities as part of what it calls an “economic blockade”, targeting transport routes and vehicles connected to economic activity.
The BLA has also been linked through its own claims to major attacks affecting civilians and transport infrastructure. In May, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing targeting a shuttle train in Quetta carrying security personnel and their families. Reuters reported that at least 24 people were killed and around 70 injured in the attack, while several railway carriages were damaged or overturned.
The group’s activities have subsequently been met with intensified counter-terrorism operations by Pakistani security forces. In July, security forces conducted intelligence-based and targeted operations in Surab and Mastung, with the military reporting that 10 terrorists, including two female suicide bombers, were killed or apprehended in the operations. Authorities said weapons, ammunition and improvised explosive devices were recovered.
Security operations in and around Surab have continued as part of the broader counter-terrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam. The reported operations have focused on identifying militant hideouts, disrupting networks and recovering weapons and explosives.
The latest incident in Naghar therefore comes amid an established pattern of terrorist activity and counter-terrorism operations in Surab and elsewhere in Balochistan. The repeated targeting of security positions, highways, bridges, transport vehicles and economic infrastructure has added a wider security dimension to the latest incident