In recent years, the BLA has expanded its operations significantly, carrying out over 150 attacks last year alone, culminating in this latest train hijacking.
The BLA emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with analysts tracing its leadership to Balach Marri, the son of veteran Baloch nationalist Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri. The insurgency escalated in 2006 following the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti under the government of then-military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Balach Marri was killed a year later, leading to the government banning the BLA. His father, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, passed away in December 2014.
According to Fahad Nabeel, head of the Islamabad-based research consultancy Geopolitical Insights, the current leader of the BLA is Bashir Zaib Baloch, who is believed to have orchestrated the Jaffar Express hijacking.
