Baloch Liberation Army Car Bombing Kills 5 at Pakistan Highway Checkpoint in Mastung

A suicide car bomber slammed an explosive-rigged vehicle into a paramilitary border post along the N-25 national highway in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on Thursday evening, killing five people and wounding at least 13 others.

The blast tore through a Frontier Corps checkpoint in the Kanda Wa locality of Mastung district, shattering perimeter fortifications and scattering debris across the transit artery. Three militants—including the suicide driver—died instantly in the detonation. Two civilians caught in the blast radius also suffered fatal trauma, provincial security officials confirmed on Friday. Paramilitary personnel guarding the barrier sustained severe blast injuries alongside passing motorists.

While initial military assessments logged 13 wounded, provincial police officials reported that the injury toll reached 16, with at least three border force personnel in critical condition.

Emergency crews pulled survivors from the twisted wreckage and shifted them to nearby district medical facilities for emergency surgery.

The Strike on the N-25 Highway Corridor

The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the assault within hours. In a public statement, the separatist outfit identified the suicide operative as Osama Shahwani, asserting he enlisted in their armed ranks in 2022.

Yet security officials disputed that narrative. State intelligence records reveal Shahwani's name was formally registered in a missing-persons case in 2024—a deliberate tactic by insurgent handlers to obscure militant enlistment, according to investigators.

Federal security agencies sealed the highway perimeter on Friday, deploying forensic investigators and bomb-disposal experts to analyze the vehicle chassis and trace the origin of the explosives.