Mahal Baloch (; ; 2001-2024), also known by her

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

Zilan Kurd (), was a Pakistani Baloch suicide bomber of the

Balochistan Liberation Army The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in the Balochistan region. Operating primarily from safe havens scattered across southern Afghanistan, BLA perpetrates attacks in neighboring Paki ...

who detonated a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

at a Pakistani Army base during the

August 2024 Balochistan attacks On 26 August 2024, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launched a series of attacks in the Province of Balochistan in Pakistan. The attacks were carried out against civilian lorry drivers as well as military installations and police officers, ...

Life

Mahal Baloch was born in 2001 as the fifth of six children in

Gwadar Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a populati ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

. Her father was Kahda Hameed Assa. She graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Degree College Gwadar, and then enrolled in a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

program at Turbat University in 2021. Her father was a member of the

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP) was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, through th ...

and was a student of

Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo (Urdu/ Baloch: میرغوث بخش بزنجو ) was a Pakistani politician from Balochistan. He served as the 3rd Governor of Balochistan. Early life He was born in Nall Khuzdar Balochistan in either December 1917 or 19 ...

. She did

internships An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

for law practice in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

during summer breaks. Mahal Baloch had an average upbringing. Jayend Baloch, a spokesperson for the

, claimed that Mahal Baloch had officially became a BLA militant in 2022. In 2023, after extensive training, she was admitted to the

Majeed Brigade Majeed Brigade ( Balochi: romanized: ''Majed Bereyagapyede'', ), also spelt Majid Brigade, is a special forces unit of the Balochistan Liberation Army. It is tasked with carrying out high-stakes and unconventional operations against Pakistani s ...

, the BLA

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

. She left her family home on August 23, 2024. She died on August 26 after detonating a

in a Pakistani Army base in

Bela, Balochistan Bela (), () is a city in Lasbela District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is an ancient city surrounded by hills above the Arabian Sea, nearly northwest of Karachi and south of Quetta. During the autumn of 325 BC, the settlement was ...

during the

. As it was uncommon for women to drive, she drew suspicion as she was driving to the army base. Mahal Baloch shared the same name as a missing woman from Balochistan who was uninvolved with the BLA. After her death, the BLA published a video message that she recorded before the attack. Her alias, Zilan Kurd, was a tribute to

Zeynep Kınacı Zeynep Kınacı (1972–1996), codenamed Zilan, was a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) known for having committed its first suicide attack. The way she carried it out has influenced women's role within the PKK. Biography Kinaci was ...

, who she saw as a role model. She was first known by the alias in 2018, after the

YPG The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist US-backed Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostly consists of K ...

declared support for the BLA. On September 3, 2024, armed Kurdish militants belonging to a small pro-

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gue ...

group of the HBDH, entered

Şişli Plaza Şişli Plaza is a mixed-use skyscraper in Istanbul, Turkey and has 40 residential floors, but rises above a 4-floor retail facility and has a 2-floor radio station on top; making an overall total of 46 floors above ground. - The floor-to-floor ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and destroyed, burned, and ransacked Turkish government properties. They claimed that the attack was provoked by the repression of

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...

, and stated "we dedicate this action to the Baloch Liberation Army comrades Zilan Kurd (Mahal Baloch) and Rizwan Baloch (Hamal), who were martyred." Rizwan Baloch, known by his alias Hamal, was another suicide bomber during the BLA attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baloch, Mahal 2001 births 2024 deaths Female suicide bombers People from Gwadar District Baloch women 2024 suicides