The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has released photographs of two suicide attackers involved in its recent large-scale, coordinated assault across Pakistan’s Balochistan province, confirming that both were women.
One of the attackers has been identified as 24-year-old Asifa Mengal, while the identity of the second woman remains unknown.
The attacks, which unfolded across multiple towns and cities, killed nearly 50 people, including at least 17 security personnel, Pakistani authorities said.
The banned separatist group said Mengal, a resident of Nushki district, was born on October 2, 2002, and joined the BLA’s elite Majeed Brigade on her 21st birthday.
According to the group’s statement, she volunteered to become a ‘fidayee’—a suicide attacker—in January 2024 and carried out an attack targeting an ISI facility in Nushki on January 31.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that at least two of the attacks involved female perpetrators, underscoring a rare and alarming tactical shift by the militant group.
A video circulating online purportedly shows the second woman attacker moments before the assault, standing alongside male BLA militants and mocking the Pakistani government.
Speaking in Balochi, she accuses the state of oppressing Baloch women and calls for unity against what she describes as an uncompromising enemy, while holding a large firearm and smiling into the camera.
Following the attacks, Pakistani security forces launched a sweeping counter-offensive that lasted nearly 40 hours. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said more than 140 militants were killed during the operations, adding that authorities had prior intelligence indicating a major attack was being planned.
The violence began late Friday and continued through Saturday, with assaults reported in Nushki, Hub, Chaman, Naseerabad, Gwadar and the Makran region, according to provincial spokesperson Shahid Rind.
Junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said militants, some dressed as civilians, infiltrated schools, markets, banks and hospitals before opening fire.
The BLA said the attacks marked the second phase of its operation, codenamed ‘Herof’ or ‘Black Storm’, aimed at security forces across the province. The Pakistani military said all attempts by militants to seize cities or strategic installations were repelled.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest yet poorest province, has witnessed a decades-long insurgency driven by separatist groups demanding independence and greater control over the region’s vast natural resources.
