In Taunsa Sharif, relatives and activists held a protest demanding the safe return of Shoaib Baloch, a young man allegedly forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces.
Shoaib Baloch s/o Khan Muhammad, a student at Bolan Medical College in Quetta, was reportedly taken a month ago following a raid by Pakistani security forces on his family’s home.
Family members, along with political and social activists from the Baloch-majority area of Taunsa Sharif, participated in the protest. They voiced concerns over what they describe as a pattern of illegal abductions and detentions contributing to a climate of fear in the region, including in Koh-e-Suleman and Dera Ghazi Khan.
Participants of the protest highlighted an alarming trend of enforced disappearances of Baloch youth, a practice initially concentrated in Balochistan but now spreading to other Baloch-majority regions across Pakistan, including in Punjab, where the abduction of Baloch youth has increased significantly in recent years. They expressed concerns over the apparent impunity with which state agencies allegedly operate and warned of the broadening impact of such practices.
The demonstrators urged the government and judiciary to take immediate action to locate and ensure the safe return of Shoaib Baloch and others subjected to enforced disappearances. They demanded an end to the practice of enforced disappearances of the Baloch people.