Major General Jagatbir Singh, VSM (Retd)

This Occasional Paper situates the August 2024 BLA-led attacks in Balochistan within the longer trajectory of Baloch ethno-nationalist insurgency and Pakistan’s troubled state–society relations in its western periphery. Starting from the coordinated massacres of Punjabi travellers and strikes on security infrastructure, it interrogates the scale of intelligence failure, the deepening ethnic animus, and the sharpening anti-Punjab and anti-China sentiment linked to CPEC, Gwadar and resource exploitation. The study traces the historical roots of Baloch alienation—from the forced accession of Kalat, the One Unit scheme and repeated military crackdowns to gas-royalty disputes, enforced disappearances, manipulated elections and changing class composition of the movement. It also examines the Iran–Pakistan–Afghanistan angle, Taliban 2.0, and the use of cross-border sanctuaries. The paper concludes by arguing for a political, rights-based, whole-of-government approach, warning that a purely kinetic strategy will only deepen Pakistan’s internal crisis.