On Saturday, at least eight Pakistani citizens working at a repair car mechanic shop were executed by gunmen after being tied up in a garage in the Mahristan city locally known as Maghs, in the Iranian Sistan-va-Baluchestan province. This was not the first such incident in which people from Pakistan’s Punjab province were killed in a militant act.
In January last year, at least nine Pakistanis and residents of Punjab province were shot dead in a village of Iran’s Saravan city of Sistan-va-Baluchistan province. However, this incident was not claimed by any Baloch armed group.
The Iranian Baloch community identifies as a distinct ethnic group with a unique culture that often clashes with the Persian Shia-dominated government. These cultural and religious divergences have intensified tensions in Sistan and Balochistan, catalysing various insurgent movements. The governance structures in Iran are heavily influenced by Persian ethnicity, which contributes to the marginalisation of the Baloch Sunni community. This marginalisation fosters a sense of alienation among the Baloch, compounded by widespread poverty and limited economic opportunities.
The Iranian Baloch community identifies as a distinct ethnic group with a unique cultural heritage that frequently clashes with the Persian Shia-dominated government. Deep-rooted cultural and religious differences have exacerbated tensions in Sistan-va-Baluchistan, fueling various insurgent movements over the years. Iran’s governance structures are predominantly shaped by Persian ethnicity, which has contributed to the systematic marginalisation of the Baloch Sunni population. This marginalisation has fostered a sense of alienation, further intensified by widespread poverty and a lack of economic opportunities.
The Sistan-va-Baluchistan province in northeastern Iran remains a persistent challenge for the Iranian state. Strategically located, the region is a crucial corridor connecting Asian and European countries. It has also historically facilitated the movement of narcotics and militants between Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Growing Momentum of Baloch Armed Movements in Sistan-va-Baluchistan
Two-decade-long Baloch insurgency in Pakistan’s Balochistan province has centered around the narrative of “Greater Balochistan,” which envisions the reintegration of Baloch territories across neighboring Iran—referred to as “Western Balochistan”—as well as parts of Afghanistan, including Nimroz, Helmand, and Herat provinces.
BNA emerged in January 2022 when a faction of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), under the leadership of Gulzar Imam, and a splinter group of the United Baloch Army (UBA), led by Sarfraz Bangulzai, joined hands and formed BNA
Khair Bakhsh Marri, the ideological leader of the ongoing insurgent movement, has popularised the slogan “Greater Balochistan,” which is now resonating among Iranian Baloch territories. Political parties such as the Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) and the Balochistan Raj Tehpaki Party, along with armed groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA)—both its BLA-Azad and BLA-Jeeyand —consider Iranian Balochistan part of Baloch territory. However, other groups within Pakistani Balochistan generally refrain from commenting on this aspect. Strangely, despite ideological boundness, the secular Baloch organisations operating in Pakistan avoid carrying out any attack in the Sistan-va-Baluchistan province. However, things are changing in Sistan-va-Baluchistan province as the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA), a faction within the BNA, claiming attacks using Beebarg Baloch as a spokesperson of the group began attacking Iranian territories in the last year.
BNA a new chapter in Baloch Insurgency
BNA emerged in January 2022 when a faction of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), under the leadership of Gulzar Imam, and a splinter group of the United Baloch Army (UBA), led by Sarfraz Bangulzai, joined hands and formed BNA. The group faced a major setback when Gulzar Imam was arrested in a neighboring country, but Pakistan’s military media claimed he was arrested by Pakistan’s secretive agencies in Balochistan. Gulzar’s arrest further escalated a verbal confrontation with the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and BLA-Jeeyand, as Sarfraz Bangulzai, who became the successor of the group after Gulzar's arrest, accused both groups of lacking interest in holding accountable those involved in Gulzar’s arrest, and of influencing the shifting loyalties of the group’s fighters toward the BLF and BLA-Jeeyand. Fragmentation continues within the BNA, as one of the group’s commanders, Anwer Chakar, has criticised Sarfraz Bangulzai for being incompetent and a source of mistrust among Baloch armed movements.
Fragmentation in BNA and Across-Border Intentions
Amid internal disputes, another Baloch insurgent group emerged last year within Iranian Baloch territories, known as the Baloch National Army (distinct from the Baloch Nationalist Army or BNA). Compared to the BNA factions operating in Pakistan, this new group is considered to be more Iran-centric, as suggested by its propaganda materials. This group’s media publications are more focused on Persian and Balochi languages, indicating a target audience within Iran. Their media content is primarily in Balochi and Persian.
The Baloch National Army’s operations are distinctly Iran-centric and event-driven. The group carried out more than half a dozen attacks on 30 September last year—a date remembered as one of the bloodiest days in recent Iranian history
In contrast, the media propaganda of the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA)—the group that claimed responsibility for the killing of Pakistani citizens in Meharistan City—is disseminated in a wide range of languages, including Balochi, Persian, Urdu, and English. More importantly, the Anwar-led faction of the BNA denied any involvement in the Saturday attack. It is also important to note that all of these groups use separate media outlets or mouthpieces to propagate their respective narratives. Saturday's attack, which involved the killing of eight Pakistani citizens in Iran, was the second such incident by the group. The group had previously claimed to have attacked two Pakistani barbers in Bathik, a village in Sarbaz city in Iran's Sistan-Va-Baluchistan province, last January
In addition, the group involved in the killing of Pakistani citizens in Iran last year carried out twenty-two attacks across Pakistan’s Balochistan, Sindh, and Punjab provinces, as well as within Iran. Similarly, this offshore of BNA also launched a series of attacks under the name 'Operation Garook' last January, claiming responsibility for strikes in both Iran and Pakistan’s Khuzdar district. Lastly, this faction of the BNA emerged in June of last year, beginning to claim attacks through a new media outlet, separate from other factions of the group, indicating a distinct identity.
Similarly, the Anwar-led faction of the BNA has focused its attacks primarily within Balochistan, specifically targeting the Makran division of Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Meanwhile, the Anwar-led faction of the BNA, in a statement, distanced itself from involvement in the killing of Pakistani citizens in Iran and reiterated its focus on operations within Pakistan.
On the other hand, the Baloch National Army’s operations are distinctly Iran-centric and event-driven. The group carried out more than half a dozen attacks on 30 September last year—a date remembered as one of the bloodiest days in recent Iranian history. On the same day in 2022, Iranian authorities killed more than one hundred protesters in the Sistan-va-Baluchistan province.