A missing person from Turbat city in Balochistan’s Kech district has been released and has returned home, while three more individuals have reportedly gone missing from the Khuzdar and Awaran districts of Balochistan.
According to reports, Asif, son of Qasim and a resident of Askani Bazar, Turbat, has been released. Asif was forcibly detained last month on June 14, 2024.
However, despite this positive outcome, three more individuals have fallen victim to enforced disappearances.
On July 1, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) forces allegedly forcibly arrested a man named Saeed, son of Abdul Ghani, during a raid on his shop in the Bazgir area of the Khuzdar district and shifted him to an unknown location.
In another incident, unknown armed motorcyclists forcibly detained Abdullah, son of Abdul Malik, from the Jhaoo area of the Awaran district. Eyewitnesses said that the armed men asked Abdullah for his cell phone. When he refused, the armed men blindfolded him and forcibly took him with them.
Local sources said that a government-backed group “death squad” detained the youth. However, the authorities have not presented any report regardin this incident.
It should be noted that, as per reports, ‘death squads’ allegedly backed by the Pakistan army and secret agencies are active armed groups in various parts of Balochistan. According to political and human rights activists, these groups are involved in various crimes, including kidnappings for ransom, enforced disappearances, extortion, and target assassinations of political activists.
Similarly, on July 1, 2024, Pakistani forces reportedly raided a house in Mashkay, Awaran at 2:00 am and forcibly subjected a youth named Dawood, son of Ismail, to torture and detained him. The whereabouts of the youth remain unknown since.