Balochistan sees protests amid rising cases of target killings, enforced disappearances

Several rallies are being organised across cities such as Naseerabad, Pasni and Quetta in Pakistan against the rise in extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances at the hands of Pakistani state backed death squads, according to Baloch Yakjehti Committee.

The details were shared by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a human rights body, in a post on X.

BYC said that the rallies are being organised on account of the accelerating Baloch genocide by the ‘Pakistani State’.

It shared that people poured in large numbers, with women, children, and elderly joining the rallies, which included the victim families of enforcedly disappeared persons.

It noted how the victim families shared their constant agony and trauma amid a surge in target killings and fake encounters of already missing persons. They also demanded an end to military violence, state-backed death squads, target killings, fake encounters and rampant enforced disappearances.

BYC shared that the rally in Quetta was joined and addressed by BYC’s central organizer, Mahrang Baloch.

At the event she said, “Baloch nation has continued its resistance in all weathers, it is not fate but the worst form of slavery. As we are sitting here protesting, the genocidal state has gifted us five bullet riddled bodies of forcibly disappeared Baloch sons”.

BYC noted that Baloch emphasized on the need to support the victim families, mothers, sisters and fathers who are struggling for their loved ones.

“Together, we have to give the State and its brutal forces a clear message that Baloch nation is united and would never give up resistance against their genocide, she added. It should be noted that Baloch Yakjehti Committee has announced a series of protests against the target killing of minors Mehraj Baloch and Karim Baloch at the hands of the death squads in Kech. Baloch nation is strongly protesting against this cyclic violence perpetuating the Baloch genocide”, the post concluded.

Balochistan faces numerous issues, including state repression, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings of activists, scholars, and civilians. The region suffers from economic neglect, with insufficient development, lack of basic infrastructure, and limited political autonomy.