Thread by @KiyyaBaloch

Some thoughts on the BLA attack in #Karachi University [Thread]

No doubt, the #Baloch insurgency has been redefining itself since 2011. What is surprising is how Baloch separatists, many of whom define themselves as secular nationalists, have now started following the same

strategy that has been used by hardcore Islamists such as #Bokoharam in Nigeria, Islamic State (#ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, Al Qaeda, and #Taliban in #Afghanistan. Use of women as suicide bombers.

This is the fifth rebellion in #Balochistan, and the current one is the longest, which broke out in early 2000. Still, it’s the first time the separatist GROUP #BLA has used a female suicide bomber to attack #Chinese nationals in #Karachi. There are many reasons.

1-There is an intense crackdown on #Baloch activists suspicious of having links to separatists. Thus, the women attract less suspicion and can easily gain access to their target.

2-Also, a hijab is a good source of hiding and conveying explosives. The female who carried out the suicide bombings in #Karachi was a burqa-clad woman. This is a shocking but, of course, new strategy in the #Baloch movement

3-Besides that, PREVIOUS suicide attacks by Baloch armed men haven’t achieved the desired results insurgents wanted.

4-The current attack is largely viewed as a successful attack among #Baloch separatists considering that the attackers achieved what they wanted. Thus, I fear such attacks by Baloch women will mount in the future.

There are other reasons: Since 2021, #Balochistan has witnessed an increasing attack by Baloch separatists in two paradoxical ways – A) involving young educated youth and b) now women.

This was the first suicide bombing by a #Baloch lady, and why I fear it will increase.

Because, in recent months after February #Nushki and #Panjgur attacks, only between Feb and April did the security forces hunt 37 insurgents in #Balochistan. Women are less suspicious and can easily achieve the target.

The question that comes to everybody's mind. Who could be these women?

I don’t think they are uneducated or minor women carrying out suicide attacks as the Islamists have been doing. I suspect these women are either widows, daughters, or children of Baloch insurgents. Or...

It could be former BSO Azad activists or women who have faced harassment and suffered mental torture at the hands of security forces.

No doubt, the State will react strongly, and there will be more crackdowns, especially against #Baloch women and rights campaigners.

The use of female suicide bombing by #BLA and Baloch separatists is a matter of great concern and calls for heightened vigilance from the State. But at the same time, the State has to revisit its policies toward #Balochistan.

As I said, these women aren’t minor or uneducated. Neither are they coerced. I am being told now the woman who carried out the suicide bombing was an MPhil scholar with two Masters. Not confirmed yet but if true is a dramatic change in #Baloch insurgency.

The #Baloch woman who carried out the suicide attack belongs to a highly educated family. She is the mother of two, and her husband is a doctor. She is neither a minor nor coerced by #BLA into carrying out this suicide attack.