'Survival Lies in Resistance': Baloch Leaders Call for 'Black Day' on August 14 After Pakistani Airstrikes in Surab

Balochistan: Baloch leader Mir Yar Baloch called on the Baloch population globally to observe August 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day, as a “Black Day,” while issuing a sharp condemnation of recent Pakistani military airstrikes in the Surab region that reportedly left dozens of civilians dead and injured.

Leading the call for mass disassociation from Pakistani state celebrations, Mir Yar Baloch urged six crore Baloch people worldwide to hoist black flags and wear black armbands to signal their rejection of Pakistani rule.

In a post on X, Mir Yar Baloch asserted that Balochistan possesses a distinct 9,000-year history and cultural identity separate from Pakistan, describing the Pakistani state as an artificial creation of British colonial partition.

“On 14 August, the six crore people of Balochistan, as well as the Baloch population living outside Balochistan, will observe a Black Day. They will hoist black flags at their homes and educational institutions and wear black armbands to express their disassociation from Pakistan. Wherever the Pakistani flag is seen in Balochistan, it will be taken down and discarded because Balochistan is an independent and sovereign country, and there is no legal or moral justification for the flag of another country to be displayed in our country,” he wrote.

Mir Yar Baloch further criticised Pakistan’s foreign military posture and regional role, labelling the state a “war profiteer” while condemning recent military operations in Surab’s Gadar Gondon area. He stated that Pakistani air force strikes killed nearly thirty innocent civilians, predominantly women and children.

“The Pakistani military is attempting to celebrate 14 August under the shadow of guns, but it also knows that the people of Balochistan regard Pakistan as an occupying country and its military as the killers of the Baloch. Just two days ago, Pakistan’s terrorist military and air force attacked the Surab Gadar Gondon area, killing nearly thirty innocent Baloch, a large number of whom were women and children, while dozens of others were injured,” he added.

Additionally, prominent human rights activist Dr Mahrang Baloch, who is in jail, echoed these condemnations, characterising seven decades of Pakistani administration in Balochistan as a “violent model of governance” that has resulted in systemic oppression, curfews, and mass civilian casualties.

In a post issued from prison, on the aerial bombings in Sorab, Mahrang Baloch emphasised that targeting populated areas constitutes an act of genocide rather than a standard military operation.

“Pakistan has been ruling over the Baloch people for the past seven decades. The state has attempted to maintain its dominance over Balochistan by keeping the Baloch people under the shadow of continuous oppression, but this violent model of governance has now failed, and the cost of this failure is once again being extracted from the ordinary Baloch population,” she wrote.

“Last night in Sorab, as a result of bombing by Pakistani warplanes, 27 people were killed and injured, including children. If a state considers the mass killing of dozens of civilians, including children, resulting from bombing homes and populated areas as a routine operation, then this is not a military operation but genocide,” she added.

Calling on the public to resist the state’s military campaign and support the road blockades initiated by local residents in Sorab, Mahrang Baloch urged the broader population to mobilise.

“The Baloch genocide is not merely an internal issue of Balochistan but a global humanitarian tragedy. Until this genocide and its root causes are eliminated, any talk of peace is mere rhetoric and an escape from reality. I appeal to the people of Balochistan to come out of their homes against the Sorab incident and resist instead of mourning their killings. Our survival lies in resistance.”

The remarks come as protests erupted in Surab after reports emerged that a Pakistani military airstrike in the Gidar Goandhan area had killed more than 20 people and injured at least 16 others, according to The Balochistan Post (TBP).

The aerial attack was reportedly carried out on Tuesday and resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children. Local residents and police transported the injured and bodies of those killed to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Surab, where the wounded were undergoing treatment.

Some residents claimed that the actual number of fatalities could be higher than the figures reported initially. At the time of TBP’s report, the Pakistani military or security authorities had not issued any official statement confirming the incident or the reported casualties.

Notably, the region of Balochistan remains afflicted by a concerning trend of enforced disappearances, where some victims are eventually released, while others face extended detention or fall victim to targeted killings. These violations of fundamental rights have heightened insecurity and distrust among the local population. The ongoing threat of arbitrary arrests and the lack of accountability continue to destabilise Balochistan, eroding efforts to restore peace, justice, and public trust in state institutions.

ALSO READ: Heavy Rain Causes Flooding Near Tokyo That Kills 4 and Disrupts Train and Air Travel