Balochistan’s Home Minister, Zia Langove, announced on Friday the arrests of two suspects allegedly involved in the killing of seven non-locals in Gwadar on May 9.
At a press conference, Minister Langove described the arrests as a significant achievement. “It is an achievement, and I have gathered all officials of all concerned institutions who have played an important role in the arrest of the two suspects involved in this heinous crime,” he said.
The Counter Terrorism Department’s (CTD) provincial chief, Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya, also attended the press conference. He provided details about the arrests, identifying the two men as Niaz, son of Abdullah, and Bashir, son of Abdul Ghani, and claimed they are associated with the Baloch Liberation Army, an armed Baloch separatist group.
Contrary to these claims, media reports and activists say the two men were forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces after the May 9 incident in Gwadar.
On May 9, unidentified armed men attacked a residential quarter near the Fish Harbor Jetty in Gwadar’s Surbandan area, killing seven people and injuring one. The deceased were from the Khanewal district in Punjab. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Following the incident, Pakistani forces launched a large-scale operation in and around Gwadar, resulting in the forced disappearance of numerous individuals. Niaz and Bashir were reportedly taken from their homes on May 13 and transported to an undisclosed location.
Human rights activists have previously highlighted a pattern in Balochistan where authorities label already disappeared individuals as newly arrested. Many of these individuals, once presented as arrested, either never appear in court or are killed in staged encounters.
Earlier this year, Balach Mola Bakhsh, who had been forcibly disappeared in Turbat, was later declared arrested but subsequently killed in a staged encounter, leading to widespread protests throughout Balochistan. Similarly, on August 31, 2018, Asif and Rasheed Baloch were detained from a picnic spot in Noshki and later presented to the media by the CTD in Quetta. They remain missing to this day.
Saira Baloch, the sister of Asif and Rasheed, posted on social media platform X, stating: “On May 29th, the Quetta High Court heard my brothers’ case. According to our lawyer, Imran Baloch, the FC submitted a statement claiming that Asif and Rasheed had willingly gone abroad. This is utterly ridiculous. Our loved ones are being disappeared and then falsely accused of leaving the country. Our brothers are in your custody, release them.”
The recent announcement by the Balochistan Home Minister regarding Niaz and Bashir has raised concerns among activists and the Baloch populace, who fear that the men might be killed in a staged encounter or remain disappeared indefinitely.