In an incident in Western Balochistan, the dead body of twenty-two-year-old Dawood Malikzai, son of Muhammad Ali and a resident of Sarbaz, was found in Iranshahr. Dawood, abducted a month prior, was discovered a week ago. The body, bearing bullet marks, was left in an abandoned house. The family confirmed its identity after five days, as the body was not easily recognizable.
This was not the first incident of its kind. Earlier, two other bodies were also found abandoned in Iranshahr, identified as victims of “enforced disappearance.”
Additionally, a resident of Hash, Abdul Ghaffar Hashimzai, son of Ghulam Nabi and a resident of Hash, was executed in Iran’s Kerman state. Abdul Ghaffar, aged thirty-eight, received a death sentence from the Iranian judiciary. Allegedly involved in the drug trade, he was apprehended two years ago in Mahan Chowki, Kerman. The family received news of the execution a day before their meeting with Abdul Ghaffar.
Speculation arose that these were not isolated incidents, but rather a continuation of a larger state policy of “Baloch Genocide.” An increase in disappearances and killings within the Baloch community in Western Balochistan was observed after a series of protests against the same policy.