A wave of simultaneous gun attacks and suicide bombings targeting schools, banks and security installations in Pakistan's Balochistan province over the weekend has killed 50 people, mostly civilians, including women and childrenin the insurgency-hit region.
The coordinated nature of the attacks and their scale expose the enormous security threats facing the region, according to Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council.
"These are extremely serious and significant attacks. It was also one of the most violent days in Balochistan for quite some time," Kugelman told DW.
Sahar Baloch, a Berlin-based researcher focusing on Balochistan, echoed this view.
"These are not sporadic low-level incidents. They are widespread, coordinated assaults across the province, indicating a higher operational tempo than seen in recent years," she told DW.
Pakistan: Dozens killed in clashes with Baloch separatists
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Islamabad accuses India of helping BLA separatists
Pakistani security forces have since launched raids in several areas against members of the outlawed separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Officials said Monday that 177 BLA fighters had been killed.
The provincial government has also imposed restrictions on public gatherings and concealing identity, such as through face coverings.
Pakistan has said the BLA has received support from India, without providing evidence. New Delhi rejected the allegations.
The charges, nevertheless, could escalate tensions between the two nuclear-armed archrivals who engaged in their worst armed conflict in decades in May.
Local grievances and rising violence
Balochistan is the largest and poorest province in Pakistan.
The mountainous, mineral-rich region of the South Asian country has a dry desert climate and is sparsely populated.
It's a hub for the ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government in Islamabad.
The tensions have fueled a separatist insurgency seeking greater autonomy, or even independence for Balochistan, and a larger share of its natural resources.
Authorities have violently suppressed such demands for decades.
The BLA is the strongest armed faction dominated by ethnic Baloch separatist groups.
BLA militants routinely target Pakistani security forces and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multibillion-dollar project linked with Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project shows a sharp escalation in Baloch separatist violence over the past five years, with incidents and fatalities rising by 60% in 2025, the deadliest year on record.
Kugelman said the growing violence is more troubling as Balochistan is already a heavily militarized region.
"Pakistan's military is very entrenched there, and I would argue that the scale, scope, and sophistication of these attacks suggest a significant intelligence failure on the part of Pakistan," he underscored.
Who is the woman behind Balochistan's protest movement?
BLA has 'capacity to persist'
Sahar Baloch said the BLA poses a serious militant threat locally with operational capabilities to strike widely.
The group has shown that it can coordinate and launch simultaneous attacks across the province, causing both military and civilian casualties.
"The danger lies in its capacity to persist, exploit grievances, and sustain cycles of violence that drain resources and undermine stability if unaddressed," the expert stressed.
Nevertheless, she pointed out, the high number of militants killed in counteroperations suggests that "Pakistan's security forces are still capable of inflicting major losses."
Pakistan: What's behind the Balochistan armed insurgency?
A chance for dialogue?
Pakistan has so far opted to put an end to the Baloch insurgency using military means, but it hasn't worked, Kugelman said.
He argued that Islamabad should instead engage in dialogue and resolve the underlying grievances.
"The deep-seated grievances that animate this insurgency have contributed to boosting recruitment for the insurgents over the last few years," the expert noted.
"I think the issue could be tackled with dialogue, which would entail representatives from the Pakistani state hearing out the grievances, not necessarily from the militants, but from local communities, and trying to develop some type of dialogue, a political solution."
Curated by Sofia Andersson
