Saira Baloch is the sister of two forcibly disappeared persons and a strong voice against the enforced disappearances in Balochistan. In a press briefing in Khuzdar on Wednesday along with her family members, she alleged Pakistani law enforcement agencies of abducting her two more cousins, Manan Baloch s/o Mohammad Mussa, and Sarfaraz Baloch s/o Niaz Ahmed.
“Until yesterday, I was struggling for my missing brothers Asif Baloch and Rasheed Baloch, asking for justice, but instead of releasing my brothers, two more members of my family were forcibly disappeared by the law enforcement agencies from the Ferozabad area of Khuzdar,” Saira stated.
While talking to the journalists, Saira said that “Asif and Rasheed were forcibly abducted by the FC troops and secret services in Nushki along with 9 other of their friends on 31 august, 2018.” Their friends were later released while both of them are still under the custody of forces and false allegations were also leveled against them but till to date their whereabouts remain unknown,” she added.
While accusing the Counter Terrorism Department in Pakistan (CTD) of leveling fake and fabricated allegations against her cousins Saira said, “both of them were taken into custody by the security forces when they were returning from Naal area of Balochistan, on 31 October 2022. In this regard, my family has registered an FIR against their unlawful abduction at Khuzdar Police station. Stating that “after 10 days of their abduction a statement was issued by the Counter Terrorism Department, surfacing their arrest with the false and fabricated allegations against them,”.
She quoted CTD saying that it has allegedly recovered “five hand grenades, 1200 grams of C4 explosives, 2 kg of other explosives, four electric detonators, one remote control kit, one alpha fire system,” I wonder how it can be possible that a person can carry such a huge bound of materials from Kalat to Quetta on a motorcycle, Saira questioned while rejecting the CTD’s allegations to both of the detainees, Manan Baloch and Sarfaraz Baloch.”
“The issue of the Baloch Missing persons is getting worsen by each passing day, people are being unlawfully disappeared on daily basis, baseless and fabricated accusations are being made against them and a large number of them are being extrajudicially killed by the CTD in fake encounters,” Sara said in her press conference.
Saira further stated that “the state agencies told us the same story four years ago when my brothers disappeared in Nushki and later their arrest was shown by the agencies in Hazar Ganji area of Quetta while stating that they were taken into custody for carrying a large bound of weapons and ammunition. She questioned how it was possible that 11 persons, with ammunitions and weapons, belonging to a militant group, as CTD claimed, handed over themselves without fighting…. “And the same story has been repeated once again to my family as the abduction of my two more cousins has been shown somewhere else with the false allegations by the CTD,” She added.
Saira urged the public saying through this press conference, I want you to be my voice and raise your voices against this oppression which has been imposed on us by the security institutions. While addressing the LAEs and state institutions she said “bring them in your courts, if they are found guilty of something then punish them according to the law, but their unlawful detention for years, torturing and killing them through fake encounters is not acceptable at all.”
It is to be noted that, since the formation of CTD, the families of the missing persons are concerned about their family members whom they claim are in the illegal custody of the security forces. Those families blame the institution for leveling false and fabricated allegations against the forcibly disappeared persons and killing them in fake encounters, which have been condemned even by the parliamentarian parties in Balochistan. Several times in the past, the CTD has been accused by political and rights groups of staging fake encounters and killing Baloch missing persons on point blank range and portraying them of being members of the militant groups.