A young man reportedly detained by Pakistani forces last year has been identified among three people killed in an alleged staged encounter in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district.
The body of Abdul Malik Baloch, 28, was found late on Thursday near Baghbana in Khuzdar district. His family says he had been forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces in Turbat city on 11 October 2024.
Security officials claimed Malik was killed in an exchange of gunfire. However, his family strongly rejected this account, alleging that he was extrajudicially killed after months in custody.
Family members said they were called late at night by security officials to identify Abdul Malik’s body. They allege they were pressured to sign documents and witnessed security personnel dressing Malik in a jacket, placing a gun next to his body, and staging photographs to suggest he had died in a shootout.
“This was not an encounter—it was murder,” a family member said. “We protested, we pleaded for his return. Instead, we received his body.”
The family said that during protests on 3 and 4 March, they had raised Abdul Malik’s case before the district administration, which reportedly asked for 15 days to resolve the matter. “We waited, but in the end, only a body came back,” a relative said.
Abdul Malik’s body was later handed over to his family and buried in their home village in Kalat district.
His death has sparked outrage in Kalat and surrounding areas, drawing condemnation from human rights groups, who accuse Pakistani forces of frequently resorting to enforced disappearances and staged killings.
Paank, the human rights wing of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), strongly condemned Abdul Malik’s killing. In a statement posted on X, the group described it as a “deeply troubling pattern of state-sponsored violence.”
“This act is part of a broader campaign of enforced disappearances, custodial torture, and fake encounters targeting Baloch civilians,” Paank said. The group called for an “immediate and impartial investigation” and urged the international community to intervene.