A radical shift in insurgency

October 17, 2024

ISLAMABAD – Last week’s attack on Chinese nationals in Karachi by the BLA showcased its growing operational capabilities, as its suicide squad successfully targeted a heavily protected convoy of Chinese nationals. The BLA has a history of launching high-intensity terrorist attacks in Karachi, and the recent attack was its 11th out of a total of 17 — five attacks were carried out by the banned Balochistan Liberation Front and one by the banned Baloch Nationalist Army.

It was the fourth strike on Chinese interests in the city since 2012, and one of the worst since the attack on the teaching staff at the Confucius Institute of the University of Karachi. The area around Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport is part of a high-security zone. Previously, it was the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, which breached airport security in 2014 and launched a terrorist onslaught inside the premises.

The Aug 26 terrorist wave on the major highways of Balochistan exposed the BLA’s intentions to take its violent campaign to another level, but it was also an indication that the group had achieved something unusual, which was contributing to its operational strength. After the Oct 6 attack in Karachi, the BLA revealed the secret behind its renewed violent strength — Zirab, the ‘intelligence and analysis’ wing of the insurgent group set up around one and a half years ago. ‘Zirab’ is a Persian word, also used in the Balochi language, meaning ‘underwater’. There is also a city by that name in Iran. The strategic choice of the name reflects the BLA’s deliberate approach to branding what it refers to as its intelligence unit.

This unit has contributed to enhancing the proscribed group’s ability to plan and execute terrorist