The terrorist groups of Balochistan have evolved over the years, especially after the 70s, and so have their deadly attacks, methods, and operational techniques. While these groups employ a wide array of financial revenue sources for their terrorist acts, including support from hostile states, their techniques and methods to prepare their foot soldiers have become much more sophisticated and complex.

Baloch terror groups use sophisticated techniques to radicalize middle-class, educated individuals, especially women, for their operations.

Gone are the days when the Baloch tribal chiefs used their tribesmen to fight their wars against the state using tribal code. The Baloch terrorists are attracting educated, middle-class, young women for terrorism.

The Baloch terrorists are employing sophisticated manipulative indoctrinating techniques to use Baloch women mostly for suicide attacks and in some cases for motivating others.

Radicalization:

The Baloch terror groups including BLA and its Majeed Briagde have used sophisticated techniques to motivate, brainwash, and indoctrinate Baloch youth to become the fodder of their terror cannons. Their techniques include pre-radicalization. They use stories to generate extreme emotions based on perceived deprivations and extreme stories of resistance and valor.

On one hand, they generate extreme hopelessness and create a psychological state where the difference between life and death diminishes, and at the same time, they prepare them for suicide acts telling them how that is a heroic act they will be remembered for till eternity. This provides them with a purpose in death rather than life.

Playing on the vulnerabilities:

In 2022 the BLA used Adeela Khudabakhsh a Baloch nurse who worked for WHO in Turbat and took her to their hideout in the mountains indoctrinated her and even exploited her sexually making her believe that all her sins would wash away when she committed suicide act. She was somehow rescued by Pakistani security forces.

Shari Baloch, a mother of two and an MPhil committed a suicide attack in April 2022, at Karachi University killing three Chinese and injuring one besides several Pakistanis. Shari had a disturbed family life that was exploited by the BLA to the extent that she decided to end her life leaving two kids back. She was declared as the first Baloch woman suicide attacker.

Mahal Baloch who led the suicide attack on the Bela FC camp on August 26, 2024, was a law college student and was exploited by a Turbat college Professor. The professor belonged to the BLA and he is the one who primarily indoctrinated her and then handed her over to BLA who prepared her for the “greater cause” and brainwashed her to the extent that she truly believed that her suicidal act would embolden her as an icon.

Women like Shari Baloch and Sumaiya Qalandrani were exploited emotionally and psychologically to carry out high-profile suicide attacks.

In June 2023, a second attack took place. Sumaiya Qalandrani Baloch, another woman suicide bomber, targeted a convoy of the Pakistani military in Balochistan’s Turbat district. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), one of the main groups of the Baloch insurgency, declared that the “era of women’s active participation in the armed struggle has begun.” Prior to the attack, Sumaiya, 25, was working for Hakkal, the BLA’s media wing, while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science. BLA trained her for four years before this attack.

Psychological Echo Chambers and Group Identity:

The Baloch terror groups have used the social psychology techniques of creating echo chambers. They have operationalized social identity theory and the dynamics of group polarization to solidify their anti-state ideologies.

By fostering a strong in-group (Baloch nationalist identity) versus out-group (state institutions) dichotomy, individuals are indoctrinated into believing they are part of a larger struggle, where their suffering is trivialized against the group’s cause.

Also, they are exposed to groupthink/echo chambers which discourage critical thinking, promote conformity to radical ideas suppress dissenting voices, and reinforce confirmation bias.

Operational Design: A Masterfully Orchestrated Campaign

The Baloch terror groups are now targeting middle-educated individuals, particularly women. This indicates a deliberate operational design by a mastermind or a handler with significant intellectual capacity. This strategy serves multiple objectives which include amplification of credibility (by involving middle-class, educated women like Shahri Baloch, Mahal Baloch, and Adeela Baloch.

BLA constructs a narrative suggesting that grievances against the state are universal and compelling hence setting a precedent, and boosting psychological warfare. The use of women creates a powerful shock factor that magnifies and amplifies the psychological impact of the attacks and gives media projection in the digital arena.

Making the Case Against BLA:

The strategy of the Baloch terrorist groups to radicalize middle-class educated individuals, especially women, is a deliberate and exploitative design aimed at achieving operational, communication/media outreach, and psychological objectives. By systematically identifying and manipulating vulnerabilities, the BLA’s handlers have created a sophisticated radicalization pipeline that needs to sustain the terror machine.

How to move forward?

The state of Pakistan needs to counter this insurgency through a combination (kinetic and non-kinetic) of social, economic, cultural, media both mainstream and social media, psychological, and operational components, with due focus on dismantling these networks, exposing their coercive methods, and providing vulnerable populations with the support needed to resist exploitation.

The state must counter these groups with a combination of psychological, social, cultural, and economic strategies to dismantle their networks and offer hope to vulnerable populations.

The state can and must use hope, inclusion, compassion, and empowerment as the tools to fight out homelessness, segregation, and brutality to defeat the Baloch terrorists.