A 24-year-old Asifa Mengal, a young girl from Nushki in Balochistan targeted the ISI headquarters in a suicide bombing, a year after she decided to become a ‘fidayee’ (suicide attacker) in January 2024.
According to Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Mengal was the daughter of one Mohammad Ismail and was born on October 2, 2002, and had joined the BLA’s Majeed Brigade on her 21st birthday.
Another woman who emerged as another female perpetrator and whose identity has not been confirmed also carried out a similar attack. In a video that has now surfaced, she has been seen carrying out the attack and mocking the Pakistani government with her fellow male BLA colleagues.
As she smiles widely while holding a massive gun, she says, “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,” reported 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,” the woman attacker further says in the video in Balochi.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that two of the attacks in Pakistan’s province involved female perpetrators.
The banned BLA which took responsibility for the large-scale, coordinated attacks across cities and towns in the province of Islamabad released the images of both the women attackers.
As per reports, the BLA rebels claim to have killed over 200 Pakistani military personnel in over 40 hours after launching the second phase of Operation Herof.
They further claimed to have captured central military headquarters in cities since they launched an offensive across 14 different locations in Balochistan on Saturday.
As per news agency AP, the offensive raid killed 33 people. 18 civilians, including five women and three children, and 15 security personnel were reported dead so far due to the offensive raid.
The violence marks one of the deadliest flare-ups in years in the Pakistani province bordering Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan’s Junior Minister Talal Chaudhry said the attackers posed as civilians and infiltrated schools, banks, markets, and hospitals before launching their assault.
According to the provincial chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, the the Pakistani troops had killed 145 BLA rebels in the past two days, which he said is the highest number eliminated in decades, reported Times of India.
“The bodies of these 145 killed terrorists are in our custody, and some of them are Afghan nationals,” Bugti said.
According to a statement by BLA, the “coordinated” attack carried out by BLA has targeted 48 cities across 14 cities, including Quetta, Noshki, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kalat, Kharan, Panjgur, Gwadar, Pasni, Turbat, Tump, Buleda, Mangochar, Lasbela, Kech, and Awaran. The rebels also claimed to have captured 14 personnel as hostages.
As per TOI, the BLA rebels also claimed they destroyed more than 30 government properties, including banks, government offices and prisons, and set fire to over 23 “enemy” vehicles.
How the Attack Unfolded:
The BLA said it carried out a series of gun and suicide bombing attacks across multiple locations in Balochistan. In a statement, the group said seven of its fighters were killed while executing the operation, including four “Fidayeens” — female fighters from its so-called elite Majeed Brigade.
BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the group maintained a presence across several sites, exerting “decisive pressure” on security forces and the local administration.
The statement added that “Pakistani forces had failed to regain control in several areas, including parts of Quetta,” while noting that the figures cited were preliminary.
In a later statement, the BLA detailed the units involved in the operation, naming the Fateh Squad, the Majeed Brigade, the intelligence wing “ZIRAB,” and STOS.
It said, “Fateh Squad, the Majeed Brigade, intelligence wing ‘ZIRAB’, and STOS are advancing across various cities and areas with mutual coordination, placing multiple enemy structures under simultaneous pressure.”
The group also claimed public support played a key role in carrying out the attacks, reiterating earlier assertions that non-obstructing locals would not be harmed.
It said, “The officials were freed on humanitarian grounds, with the BLA reiterating that it does not consider police, Levies, or local civil administration as direct adversaries if they do not resist its fighters.”
The statement further added, “Local officials who do not obstruct fighters would not be harmed. However, personnel who side with Pakistani security forces or attempt to block BLA operations would be treated as adversaries.”
The Changing Face of Baloch Insurgency
In a first such case earlier on April 2022, Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old mother of two and a public school teacher, carried out a suicide bombing at Karachi University’s Confucius Centre, killing four people, including three Chinese instructors. The attack marked a major shift in the Baloch insurgency, as no woman had previously conducted such an operation, highlighting the entry of educated, middle-class women into militant roles.
A year later, in June 2023, Sumaiya Qalandrani Baloch, 25, targeted a Pakistani military convoy in Turbat. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) declared that the “era of women’s active participation in the armed struggle has begun.” Sumaiya had previously worked for the BLA’s media wing while pursuing a computer science degree.
These attacks show that women in the insurgency are moving beyond traditional supportive roles—as informants, recruiters, or caretakers—to frontline combat, signaling a shift from a tribal to an educated, middle-class movement. Until now, women’s involvement had been mostly peaceful, often as mothers, sisters, or wives affected by enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings.
Against the backdrop of a worsening conflict in Balochistan, the rise of women suicide bombers points to a potentially new and more violent phase of the insurgency.
Regardless of whether more women join such operations in the future, analysts say their evolving role—shaped by state apathy and shrinking space for peaceful dissent—may allow insurgent groups to deepen their reach within Baloch society and seek broader acceptance and legitimacy.