Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has claimed to have killed five individuals in an alleged encounter in the Dukki district of Balochistan.
According to the CTD, the deceased were affiliated with an armed group and were involved in anti-state activities. However, human rights organizations and local sources have raised serious questions about the legitimacy of the operation.
A spokesperson for the CTD stated, “The operation was carried out based on intelligence reports. During the exchange of fire, five individuals were killed, and weapons as well as explosive materials were recovered from their possession.”
CTD operations have previously come under scrutiny. In past years, several encounters carried out by the department in different regions in Pakistan, especially across Balochistan, were later deemed controversial. Many of those killed in these operations were previously reported as missing persons, raising allegations that they were unlawfully detained and then killed in staged encounters.
Human rights activists and families of missing persons active in Balochistan have expressed skepticism over the latest incident as well.
“This is not the first time the CTD has made such claims. We fear this may also be a fake encounter,” said one rights advocate.
The identities of those killed have not yet been officially released. However, local sources and campaigners for “missing persons” suggest that the deceased may have been among the forcibly disappeared.
The growing number of enforced disappearances and alleged staged encounters in Balochistan has fueled a sense of insecurity and mistrust among the public.
Political commentators argue that such policies are further alienating the Baloch population from the state, and the government is steadily losing public support in the region.