THE martyrdom of Sessions Judge Abdul Hakeem Kakar in Mastung on 23 July 2026 was not just another act of violence in Balochistan. It was an attack on the Constitution, on the courts and on the idea that disputes in Pakistan are settled by law, not by the gun. When we look beyond the immediate bloodshed, a larger and more dangerous picture emerges. The Mastung attack bears the clear fingerprints of foreign sponsorship, growing operational coordination between banned outfits and a domestic political facade that is weaponizing public grievances to justify terrorism.

The Baloch Liberation Army’s recent surge in Mastung — the assassination of a judge, the killing of three civilian bus passengers, the blowing up of a bridge in Khad Kucha and the arrest of two female suicide bombers — is not sustainable on local........

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