A farmer from Balochistan’s Naseerabad district and a rickshaw driver from Karachi’s Lyari area have reportedly been subjected to enforced disappearance by Pakistani forces in separate incidents earlier this month.
According to reports, Mohammad Hussein s/o Jamal Khan, a resident of Naseerabad, was arrested from his home on July 5, 2025, at approximately 7:00 PM by personnel believed to be from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). Eyewitnesses say that CTD officials raided his house and forcibly took him to an undisclosed location. His whereabouts remain unknown.
In a similar incident, Zahid Ali s/o Abdul Hameed, a rickshaw driver from Lyari, Karachi, was abducted on July 17, 2025. He was reportedly waiting at the Lyari rickshaw stop when plainclothes personnel, allegedly from an intelligence agency, detained him and drove away with him in a rickshaw. Since then, his location has also remained untraceable.
Both individuals remain missing, and no official acknowledgement of their detention has been made by authorities.
Balochistan and parts of urban Sindh, including Karachi, have seen a concerning rise in enforced disappearances in recent years. Human rights organizations and local activists allege that the practice has become systematic, with detainees often held incommunicado for extended periods. In some cases, victims have later been reported dead in what are described as staged encounters.
Families of the disappeared have repeatedly demanded transparency and due process. “If our loved ones are in custody, they should be presented before a court,” said one family member, echoing the longstanding plea for justice in the face of growing impunity.
Rights watchdogs have continuously urged the Pakistani government to address the issue of enforced disappearances and to hold those responsible accountable through legal channels.