An attack on Pakistan’s second-largest naval base has put the spotlight on the simmering separatism in Pakistan’s largest but yet most restive province, Balochistan. A paramilitary soldier from Pakistan’s Balochistan Frontier Corps was killed along with four militants of Balochistan Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade during an attack on the Pakistani naval base PNS Siddique, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media affairs wing, on Tuesday (March 26).
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PNS Siddique, situated in Turbat city of Balochistan, previously known as Naval Air Station Turbat, stands as one of Pakistan’s four active naval air bases and a significant military airport. After PNS Mehran, the base holds the status of being Pakistan’s second-largest naval air station.
Majeed Brigade: Balochistan Liberation Army’s ‘suicide squad’
The Majeed Brigade is described as the BLA’s ‘suicide squad’. Pakistan has proscribed the BLA as a militant separatist group.
According to The Jamestown Foundation, a US defence policy think tank, the brigade derives its name from two brothers, Majeed Langove Senior and Majeed Langove Junior, who were involved in separate suicide attacks on the Pakistani army over several decades.
Majeed Senior’s assassination attempt on the then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto during Bhutto’s official visit to Quetta in 1974 was a major moment in the BLA’s separatism history. Majeed Senior was killed during that assassination attempt.
Majeed Junior lost his life while trying to defend his comrades during a raid by Pakistani security forces in 2010. Subsequently, the BLA established the Majeed Brigade as its suicide squad after Majeed Junior’s death.
The Majeed Brigade’s violent activities began with its first reported suicide attack in December 2011 in which they targeted Shafeeq Mengal, son of a former Pakistani federal minister and leader of a death squad targeting Baloch insurgents.
Though Mengal survived the attack, 13 others were killed.
After the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was formally launched in 2015 during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan, the BLA’s focus shifted to Beijing’s purported exploitation of the Baloch resources as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The brigade continued its onslaught with subsequent attacks, including one on a bus transporting Chinese engineers in August 2018, followed by assaults on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi in November 2018, Gwadar’s Pearl Continental Hotel in May 2019, and the Pakistan Stock Exchange in June 2020.
While the BLA’s overall strength is estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 fighters, the Majeed Brigade remains a smaller and exclusive faction, comprising approximately 100 to 150 members, including women. Armed with an array of weaponry such as improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, and military-grade firearms like the American M4 rifle, the brigade’s arsenal also includes explosives like C4 for crafting suicide vests.
The Majeed Brigade grants its suicide bombers the liberty to interact with their families and friends before missions, according to the watchers of separatism activities in the region.
Additionally, bombers are involved in target selection and attack planning, with the freedom to dissent or withdraw from the mission at any stage.
(With inputs from agencies)
