India has intensified proxy-war, says Munir

... as Baloch rebels hit Pakistani forces hard

As the heat rises in Balochistan, so does the finger-pointing at India. Days after the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for killing 3 members of Pakistan’s military-intelligence establishment’s “death squad”, Army Chief Asim Munir accused India of intensifying its proxy war against Pakistan. He said India’s intensifying the “proxy war” was a result of its “defeat” in the May mini-war, India Today reports.

Though blaming India for its internal strife is an old tactic of Pakistan’s military establishment, this has become recurrent since the rebellion in Balochistan gained momentum in the last few months, and attacks on Pakistani forces increased.

At an army workshop in Balochistan, General Munir referred to India, accusing Delhi of backing “terror proxies” in what he called a failed “bid to undermine Balo­chistan's patriotism”, the ISPR said. Munir claimed “India’s actions” were a resp­onse to its “defeat in the Marka-e-Haq”, framing age-old unrest in the restive province as an orchestrated conspiracy.

Munir’s rhetoric echoes a statement by the Director General of ISPR, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who headed Pakistan’s disinformation campaign against India’s Operation Sindoor and is the son of a nuclear scientist who tried to hand over nuclear weapons technology to Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. In a recent interview with ‘Al Jazeera’, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said India’s Resea­rch and Analysis Wing was “the chief financier behind attacks like the Jaffar Express bombing in March 2025”.

The Pakistan Army and its chief Asim Munir’s familiar tune of branding terrorists as “Indian proxies” is part of the well-worn playbook the establishment uses to deflect blame on India. Earlier this week, the Pakistani Army, led by Munir, blamed India for a “terrorist attack” in Waziri­stan, Khyber Pakhtun­khwa, that killed 16 soldiers. India has swiftly hit back, firmly “rejecting the allegation with the contempt it deserves”.

7 dead in Pashtun protesters’ firing 

ANI adds: The Pakistan Army opened fire on Pashtun protesters in Tirah Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of seven Pashtuns and injuries to over 20 others. The protests in Tirah Valley was against the death of a child killed by mortar fire from Pakistani forces.