How Baloch militant groups are using female suicide bombers for attacks

Pakistan’s police and military forces said they have killed over 100 militants across the restive southwestern province of Balochistan over the past 40 hours. This comes after coordinated suicide and gun attacks were launched by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a Baloch rebel group, over the weekend.

Dressed as ordinary civilians, attackers entered hospitals, schools, banks and markets on Saturday (January 31) before opening fire, Pakistan's junior interior minister Talal Chaudhry said. Female perpetrators were involved in two of the attacks, as per Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.

The BLA, which has taken responsibility for the attacks across resource-rich Balochistan, has published the images of two of its female attackers.

In recent years, female suicide bombers have been increasingly used to carry out attacks by various Baloch militant groups.

We take a look.

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The BLA has said it launched a coordinated operation dubbed Herof ("black storm"), targeting security forces across Pakistan’s restive southwestern province.

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Dozens of people, including civilians and security forces, were killed in the attacks. The banned militant group claimed more than 200 personnel from the Pakistan Army, police, and Frontier Corps (FC) were killed and at least 17 people were captured. The group described these figures as "preliminary and cautious estimates," signalling the toll could be higher.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said 17 law enforcement personnel and 31 civilians were killed in the militant attacks, as per Reuters.

"In each case, the attackers came in dressed as civilians and indiscriminately targeted ordinary people working in shops," Pakistan's junior interior minister said, alleging militants had used civilians as human shields.

The attacks were launched across Quetta, Mastung, Noshki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Panjgur, Tump, Gwadar and Pasni, as per Pakistan military's media wing, ISPR.

Panic spread after a suicide bombing killed several police officers on Saturday.

"(It) was a very scary day in the history of Quetta,” Khan Muhammad, a local resident, told Associated Press (AP). “Armed men were roaming openly on the roads before security forces arrived.”

In response, Pakistani security forces killed 145 militants in large-scale counter-operations.

According to Pakistan's military, 92 militants were killed on Saturday, while 41 were killed a day before, reported Reuters.

Women 'fidayeens' behind BLA’s attacks

The BLA released the pictures of two female militants involved in recent attacks. The group acknowledged that its 18 fighters were killed, including 11 'fidayeen', or suicide bombers, of Majeed Brigade, four fighters of Fateh Squad, and three fighters from the STOS unit, reported NDTV.

In a separate statement, "fidayeen" was identified as Asifa Mengal, who carried out a "VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) operation targeting the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) headquarters in Noshki."

"Asifa Mengal joined the Baloch Liberation Army's Majeed Brigade on October 2, 2023, and took her fidayee decision in January 2024," the BLA said, adding she died on Friday.

The name of the other female attacker is not known yet. A video shows her mocking the Pakistani government, along with other BLA militants.

"They (the Pakistan government) only show their power over our oppressed mothers and sisters; they can't confront us directly. It's beyond their capacity," she is heard in the video, as she smiles while holding a massive gun, as per India Today. 

"We just need to awaken ourselves; the Baloch nation needs to awaken. We must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Baloch Sarmachars. The enemy's days are numbered; they don't have much strength. The Baloch nation must understand that there can be absolutely no compromise with this enemy. Look, today our fighters are sacrificing their lives, blowing themselves to pieces, yet some still spy on them for a few pennies," she said in Balochi.

Rise in women 'fidayeens' across Baloch militant groups

This is not the first time that women have carried out such deadly attacks in Balochistan.

In November 2025, the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) deployed Zareena Rafiq, a female suicide bomber, to storm the heavily-guarded complex belonging to the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the mineral-rich Chaghi district’s Nokundi town.

Also known as Trang Mahoo, she detonated herself at the barrier to help the rebel fighters breach the main compound, killing at least six Pakistani personnel in the attack.

The BLF is the third Baloch separatist group, after the BLA-Jeeyand and its rival faction, BLA-Azad, to deploy female suicide bombers, according to The Diplomat piece.

Last March, Mahikan Baloch of the BLA-Azad carried out a suicide bombing targeting a paramilitary convoy in Kalat, Balochistan.

Mahal Baloch was involved in a car-bomb attack at the gate of an FC camp in Bela, Balochistan, in August 2024. She was linked to the BLA.

Sumaiya Qalandrani Baloch was behind a suicide attack in June 2023 targeting a military convoy in Turbat. She was the fiancée of Rehan Baloch, the son of BLA-Jeeyand’s first chief, Aslam Baloch, and had earlier worked in the group’s media wing.

Although women-led suicide attacks are still extremely rare in Baloch militancy, each incident holds an outsized importance.

In April 2022, Shari Baloch of the BLA, the first confirmed female suicide bomber in the Baloch insurgency, detonated herself outside the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi, killing several Chinese instructors and a Pakistani driver. She was a school teacher from Turbat who was studying for an MPhil after earning an MSc in Zoology. The 30-year-old had two children.

The rise of female suicide bombers sheds a spotlight on the "evolution of the Baloch insurgency and its awareness of the symbolic power of gender in generating shock value, gaining visibility, and amplifying Baloch grievances grounded in resource nationalism and socioeconomic exploitation of Balochistan," as per The Diplomat piece.

While these bombings are rare, women have been deployed in high-profile attacks to achieve various goals.

Army soldiers gather at the site, following militant attacks, in Quetta, Pakistan, January 31, 2026. Reuters

According to The Diplomat article, the involvement of women in suicide bombing attacks in Balochistan’s patriarchal society has “immense emotive significance”.

It signals that even women are forced to sacrifice themselves for the separatist cause due to the widespread alleged state exploitation and repression.

Female suicide bombers are used to attract other women to join the Baloch insurgency as well as to "shame men into joining the insurgency in larger numbers."

The deployment of women from the educated middle class poses a greater security challenge as they remain out of suspicion.

With inputs from agencies