Majeed Brigade ( Balochi:

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

: ''Majed Bereyagapyede'', ), also spelt Majid Brigade, is a

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 ...

unit 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 ...

. It is tasked with carrying out high-stakes and unconventional operations against Pakistani security forces.

History

The group was established in 2010 and named after Majeed Langove Senior aka Abdul Majeed Baloch, a Baloch militant who attempted to assassinate the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

at the time,

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

on August 2, 1974, when he was at a public rally 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 ...

as Majeed Senior sat atop of a tree with a

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

before accidentally committing

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

,and Majeed Junior another Baloch militant who was the younger brother of Senior who was killed by members of the

Pakistan army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

on March 17, 2010, in a housing complex in Quetta. Since 2018 to October 2024, Majeed Brigade has committed 12 suicide suicide attacks on behalf of the Balochistan Liberation Army against both the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

and Pakistani police. The first suicide operation that the organization did was in December 2011 in which they targeted Shafeeq Mengal, son of a former Pakistani federal minister and leader of a death squad targeting Baloch insurgents, Shafeeq Mengal survived but 13 others were murdered. On June 29, 2020, Majeed Briagade claimed responsibility for the Pakistan Stock Exchange attack through

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

(Now X). On October 7, 2024, a member of the Majeed Brigade, Shah Fahad, committed a suicide bombing against at the Karachi Airport killing two Chinese nationals at 23:00 (11 PM) local time, according to the Chinese embassy, the Chinese nationals were engineers that were part of the Chinese-funded enterprise Port Qasim Power Generation Co Ltd, which aims to build two coal power plants at

Port Qasim The Port Muhammad Bin Qasim ( ''Bandar-gāh Muhammad bin Qāsim''), or Qasim Port Authority (), also known as Port Qasim, is a deep-water seaport in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, on the coastline of the Arabian Sea under the administrative control ...

, near Karachi. In July 2024, the

National Counter Terrorism Authority The National Counter Terrorism Authority (), commonly called NACTA, is a Pakistani internal security organization responsible for making counter terrorism and counter extremism policies and strategies. It also develops action plans against terror ...

proscribed both the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group and Majeed Brigade as terrorist organizations for their role in suicide bombings and terrorist attacks including attacks done by the Majeed Brigade like against the

Pakistan stock exchange The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), founded as Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), is a stock exchange based in Karachi, Pakistan. PSX was classified by MSCI as a frontier market on 8 September 2021. Pakistan Stock Exchange was founded in 1947 as ...

, Chinese Consulate in Karachi and Confucius Institute at the Karachi university. On November 10, 2024, the Balochistan Liberation Army released the identity of the perpetrator of the 2024 Quetta railway station bombing as Muhammad Rafiq Bizenjo who joined the Balochistan Liberation Army in 2017 before joining the Majeed Brigade for a year and volunteering to do the suicide attack.

References

{{Baloch nationalism 2011 establishments 2011 establishments in Pakistan Organisations designated as terrorist by Pakistan