Zareena Rafiq Becomes Fifth Baloch Female Suicide Bomber

Zareena Rafiq Becomes Fifth Baloch Female Suicide Bomber

Executive Summary:

• On November 30, 2025, Zareena Rafiq—serving in the Balochistan Liberation Front’s (BLF) Saddo Operational Battalion (SOB)—carried out a suicide attack on the Pakistani army’s brigade headquarters in Nokundi, becoming the fifth known Baloch Female suicide bomber.
• In a statement after the attack, the BLF explicitly warned both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Western nations against exploiting local mineral resources, marking a strategic expansion of militant targets beyond Chinese projects.
• This operation signals an increased reliance on female suicide bombers such as Zareena—including their deployment in direct combat roles—and may catalyze women rising to leadership positions within the insurgency.

On November 30, 2025, Pakistan’s Chagai district witnessed its first major attack in seven years when a convoy of Chinese engineers was targeted by the Balochistan Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade in a suicide vehicle-borne attack. This incident marks a significant development in the revival of suicide operations in Balochistan (Times of Islamabad, December 3, 2025). The attack also signaled a shift in the strategic importance of Chagai, which is home to critical mineral resources and hosts the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) MCC Resources Development Company (MRDL), which is responsible for exploring and developing the eastern mines under the Saindak Copper-Gold Project, as well as the Canadian multinational Barrick Gold (The Arab News, July 1, 2020).

Following the BLA’s suicide attack, the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) launched its own suicide unit in Chagai, the Saddo Operational Battalion (SOB), referring to the Balochi word for “morning.” Chagai has thus emerged as the birthplace of both the revived Majeed Brigade and the BLF’s newly formed SOB unit. The BLF attack deployed a total of six fighters, including one female suicide bomber, and lasted for more than 24 hours with intermittent firing and explosions. Following the clearance operation, a large cache of weapons was recovered from the positions held by the fighters, indicating the group was well prepared for a prolonged confrontation (Zrumbish, December 2, 2025).

Zareena Rafiq (alias Maho Tranag) was the suicide bomber deployed at the entry gate of the Nokundi Brigade by the BLF. She was a resident of Kech and a student at the University of Balochistan. This attack mirrored the BLA’s August 26, 2025, assault on the Bela camp, in which the organization deployed an LLB student at the University of Turbat and a resident of Gwadar, Mahal Baloch, as a female suicide bomber in the operation (The Balochistan Post, August 26, 2024).

Who was Zareena?

Zareena comes from the Singabad Karki Tajban area of Kech, Pakistan. Her father, Rafiq Baloch (also known as Rafiq Ahmed), is a schoolteacher. She joined the BLF in 2022 and later volunteered for the group’s suicide squad in 2024. This indicates that the BLF began recruiting suicide attackers and has been preparing for suicide operations over the past several years (The Balochistan Post, November 30, 2025).

In 2025, the BLA also deployed a female suicide bomber, which set a precedent for “Jindnadrig,” a term denoting “self-sacrifice for a cause.” Consistent with this, the BLF also adopted this term for its suicide attackers, indicating a pattern of framing such acts within a secular narrative rather than an Islamist one (see Militant Leadership Monitor, June 30, 2025).

The group also stated that Zareena struck the gate of the Pakistani Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters, creating an entry route for other attackers to storm the compound. This adheres to a pattern previously observed in BLA tactics. It also represents a method of deploying female suicide bombers as part of a coordinated attack rather than as a lone actor (The Balochistan Post, September 12, 2024).

Chinese and Western Stakes Draw Militant Fire

By targeting the FC compound, the BLF introduced the SOB as a new unit within the broader group. In its statement, the BLF explicitly warned the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Western countries to restrict their investment and operations in Balochistan’s critical mining sector (The Diplomat, December 3, 2025).  This indicates the intent of Zareena’s attack was to persuade these actors from “exploiting” Balochistan’s resources and that the group may deploy female suicide bombers for that purpose in the future.

A week after the attack, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan nevertheless signaled its intention to invest in Balochistan’s mining sector. Taken together, this attack and the explicit naming of both the PRC and Western powers indicated a new strategic direction among Baloch militant groups. The shift suggests an effort to harden their stance toward countries beyond the PRC to assert their relevance amid intensifying global competition for critical mineral resources (Samaa TV, December 10, 2025).

Prior to the attack, Chinese investments and projects in Balochistan had been the primary focus of Baloch armed groups. In contrast, Western interests largely escaped sustained militant attention. This time, however, the explicit naming of Western actors indicated the growing frustration within Baloch armed groups over continued and expanding foreign involvement in Balochistan, which the groups frame as colonial exploitation.

Conclusion

Expanding U.S. and Chinese interests in Balochistan could create new challenges and unintended consequences. The BLF’s attack on the Nokundi Brigade signals a broader paradigm shift within the Baloch insurgency, marked by an increased reliance on female suicide bombers such as Zareena, including their deployment in direct combat roles rather than isolated or symbolic attacks. The persistent use of female attackers, moreover, could serve as a catalyst for women to rise to leadership positions within the Baloch militant leadership structures in the future.