diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.test.ts
index f6faeee5c67..47f36658731 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.test.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.test.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import * as logsTimeSplit from './logsTimeSplitting';
 import * as metricTimeSplit from './metricTimeSplitting';
 import { runSplitQuery } from './querySplitting';
 import { trackGroupedQueries } from './tracking';
-import { LokiQuery, LokiQueryType } from './types';
+import { LokiQuery, LokiQueryDirection, LokiQueryType } from './types';
 
 jest.mock('./tracking');
 jest.mock('uuid', () => ({
@@ -550,4 +550,39 @@ describe('runSplitQuery()', () => {
       });
     });
   });
+
+  describe('Forward search queries', () => {
+    const request = createRequest([
+      { expr: '{a="b"}', refId: 'A', direction: LokiQueryDirection.Backward },
+      { expr: '{c="d"}', refId: 'A', direction: undefined },
+      { expr: '{e="f"}', refId: 'B', direction: LokiQueryDirection.Forward },
+    ]);
+    const { logFrameA } = getMockFrames();
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      jest.spyOn(datasource, 'runQuery').mockReturnValue(of({ data: [logFrameA], refId: 'A' }));
+    });
+    test('Sends forward and backward queries in different groups', async () => {
+      jest.spyOn(datasource, 'runQuery');
+      await expect(runSplitQuery(datasource, request)).toEmitValuesWith(() => {
+        // Forward
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[1][0].targets[0].expr).toBe('{e="f"}');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[1][0].range.from.toString()).toContain('Feb 08 2023');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[3][0].targets[0].expr).toBe('{e="f"}');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[3][0].range.from.toString()).toContain('Feb 08 2023');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[5][0].targets[0].expr).toBe('{e="f"}');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[5][0].range.from.toString()).toContain('Feb 09 2023');
+
+        // Backward
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[0][0].targets[0].expr).toBe('{a="b"}');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[0][0].range.from.toString()).toContain('Feb 09 2023');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[2][0].targets[0].expr).toBe('{a="b"}');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[2][0].range.from.toString()).toContain('Feb 08 2023');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[4][0].targets[0].expr).toBe('{a="b"}');
+        expect(jest.mocked(datasource.runQuery).mock.calls[4][0].range.from.toString()).toContain('Feb 08 2023');
+
+        // 3 days, 3 chunks, 2 groups logs, 6 requests
+        expect(datasource.runQuery).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(6);
+      });
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.ts
index c219b966f73..6215f3ff42e 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/loki/querySplitting.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import { splitTimeRange as splitLogsTimeRange } from './logsTimeSplitting';
 import { splitTimeRange as splitMetricTimeRange } from './metricTimeSplitting';
 import { isLogsQuery, isQueryWithRangeVariable } from './queryUtils';
 import { trackGroupedQueries } from './tracking';
-import { LokiGroupedRequest, LokiQuery, LokiQueryType } from './types';
+import { LokiGroupedRequest, LokiQuery, LokiQueryDirection, LokiQueryType } from './types';
 
 export function partitionTimeRange(
   isLogsQuery: boolean,
@@ -219,24 +219,36 @@ export function runSplitQuery(datasource: LokiDatasource, request: DataQueryRequ
 
   request.queryGroupId = uuidv4();
   const oneDayMs = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
-  const rangePartitionedLogQueries = groupBy(logQueries, (query) =>
-    query.splitDuration ? durationToMilliseconds(parseDuration(query.splitDuration)) : oneDayMs
+  const directionPartitionedLogQueries = groupBy(logQueries, (query) =>
+    query.direction === LokiQueryDirection.Forward ? LokiQueryDirection.Forward : LokiQueryDirection.Backward
   );
+  const requests: LokiGroupedRequest[] = [];
+
+  for (const direction in directionPartitionedLogQueries) {
+    const rangePartitionedLogQueries = groupBy(directionPartitionedLogQueries[direction], (query) =>
+      query.splitDuration ? durationToMilliseconds(parseDuration(query.splitDuration)) : oneDayMs
+    );
+    for (const [chunkRangeMs, queries] of Object.entries(rangePartitionedLogQueries)) {
+      const resolutionPartition = groupBy(queries, (query) => query.resolution || 1);
+      for (const resolution in resolutionPartition) {
+        const groupedRequest = {
+          request: { ...request, targets: resolutionPartition[resolution] },
+          partition: partitionTimeRange(true, request.range, request.intervalMs, Number(chunkRangeMs)),
+        };
+
+        if (direction === LokiQueryDirection.Forward) {
+          groupedRequest.partition.reverse();
+        }
+
+        requests.push(groupedRequest);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   const rangePartitionedMetricQueries = groupBy(metricQueries, (query) =>
     query.splitDuration ? durationToMilliseconds(parseDuration(query.splitDuration)) : oneDayMs
   );
 
-  const requests: LokiGroupedRequest[] = [];
-  for (const [chunkRangeMs, queries] of Object.entries(rangePartitionedLogQueries)) {
-    const resolutionPartition = groupBy(queries, (query) => query.resolution || 1);
-    for (const resolution in resolutionPartition) {
-      requests.push({
-        request: { ...request, targets: resolutionPartition[resolution] },
-        partition: partitionTimeRange(true, request.range, request.intervalMs, Number(chunkRangeMs)),
-      });
-    }
-  }
-
   for (const [chunkRangeMs, queries] of Object.entries(rangePartitionedMetricQueries)) {
     const stepMsPartition = groupBy(queries, (query) =>
       calculateStep(request.intervalMs, request.range, query.resolution || 1, query.step)