Two Baloch men who had reportedly been forcibly disappeared by Pakistani security forces in the Mastung district of Balochistan have been recovered, local sources report.
One of the men, Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq, a government employee and Quran teacher, was detained on October 17, 2023. He had previously been subjected to enforced disappearance. The second man, Faheem, son of Kamal Khan, went missing a year ago. Both have now returned home safely.
Despite these releases, the issue of enforced disappearances remains prevalent in Balochistan. Advocacy groups such as the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) continue to raise concerns over the growing number of such cases. They allege that many of those who disappear are later found dead in what they call “fake encounters.”
While occasional releases bring hope, these groups maintain that the overall trend of enforced disappearances shows no signs of slowing down.