A woman suicide bomber targeted Chinese teachers in Karachi on Tuesday, with the Majeed brigade of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claiming responsibility for the attack that killed three Chinese and a Pakistani.
The organisation is active in the Baloch-populated areas of the restive province and most of their actions are based on the Guerrilla warfare, which means that they aim at their targets from a place of hiding, and then disappear.
However, in 2018, the BLA adopted a method previously used by religious extremists: suicide attacks.
In the first such attack, the son of the outfit’s chief Aslam Achu targeted a bus carrying Chinese engineers who were working on the Saindak Project in the Dalbandin area of Chagai.
The organisation has since carried out eight such strikes in Karachi, Gwadar, Naushki, and Panjgur.
However, the attack in question was the first of its kind, for it involved a woman. The defunct BLA has released a photo of the attacker and she has been identified as Shari alias Bramsh. In another photo prior to the attack, she is seen alongside her children.
On Twitter, Shari detailed her academic qualification as MPhil in Education and Master’s in Zoology. A man having insight revealed on condition of anonymity that the woman belonged to a well-educated and affluent family of Kech.
He also said that several members of her family have either served or are currently serving high-profile government posts.
The individual went on to add that Shari was the mother of two underage children. Her husband is a dentist by profession while her father has served as a director at a government organisation.
Moreover, Shari’s uncle is a retired professor and a writer who has authored several books.
The 30-year-old woman had also been teaching Science at a government school in Turbat and had moved to Karachi a few months ago.
She did her B.Ed. and M.Ed. in 2014 and 2018 respectively followed by a Master’s in Zoology and MPhil from the Allama Iqbal Open University, Turbat.
The source further revealed that no member of Shari’s family is missing, nor have they been linked with any armed organisation.
However, during her student years, she served as a member of the Baloch Students Organisation that supports the separatist ideology and is banned by the government.
The incumbent chief of BLA, Bashir Zeb, and several other members of the BSO-Azad went on to become a part of armed organisations.
This is a translated version of a news report published on Urdu News.