Quetta, Nov 13 — As violence against civilians continues unabated across Balochistan, bodies of two young men have reportedly been recovered in Kech district, while at least three others, including a journalist, have been forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces in Mastung and Panjgur districts, local media reported.
Reports suggest that the bodies of the deceased, identified as Jabir and Zubair, were recovered in Tump region of Kech on Thursday, nearly two months after being subjected to enforced disappearance by Pakistani forces.
Both men belonged to the same family and were residents of Gomazi in Tump.
Citing sources, The Balochistan Post reported that journalist Niaz Baloch was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces on Wednesday night during a raid on his residence in Mastung district. Since then, his family remains unaware of his whereabouts and condition.
In a separate incident in Panjgur district, a 30-year-old shopkeeper, Qambar, was taken from his shop in the Chitkan area on the evening of November 1 by a state-backed death squad.
The following day, a 70-year-old farmer, Hayatan, a resident of the Parom area in Panjgur, was abducted by Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC) and taken to an undisclosed location, with his whereabouts remaining unknown.
Highlighting the escalating atrocities against civilians in Balochistan, the human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) alleged that 30-year-old Raza Ghulam Shah was extrajudicially killed by a death squad on November 9 in the Turbat region.
According to the BYC, five death squad members attempted to forcibly disappear Raza Shah. When he resisted, the armed men opened fire, killing him on the spot and injuring his grandmother, Noor Bibi, and his mother, Zaratoon.
“The continued activities of death squads, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings expose Baloch civilians to a constant threat to their lives and basic human rights. No individual should be forcibly disappeared, targeted, or killed outside the protection of law. The state has a legal and moral obligation to protect its citizens and ensure accountability for such violations,” the rights body stated.
Calling on the United Nations, international human rights organisations, and the wider global community to break their silence and take concrete action, it said, “An independent investigation must be conducted, those responsible must be brought to justice, and the growing pattern of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan must be brought to an end.”