Enforced disappearances continue to surface across Balochistan, with at least four new cases reported in recent days, one individual returning home after weeks in secret detention, and protests underway over the abduction of passengers on the Quetta–Karachi highway.
According to reports, Mehrab, son of Manzoor, was abducted from Chitkan Kalam Chowk, Panjgur, on Friday evening. Eyewitnesses said five armed men, believed to be members of a state-backed militia known locally as a “death squad,” detained him and took him away.
Similarly, Imran Baloch, a Social Work student at Balochistan University, was allegedly taken from a house in Quetta’s A1 City area on 27 August. His family said he is a peaceful citizen and urged authorities to present him in court if accused of any wrongdoing.
On the same day in Kech district, Liaquat, son of Ghulam Rasool, was also detained allegedly by Pakistani forces in the Nawano area and remains missing.
Meanwhile, in Quetta’s Gas Colony, Inayatullah Zehri was reportedly detained by security personnel on 27 August and taken to an unknown location. His brother Ezatullah said Inayatullah had previously been subjected to enforced disappearance before being released, and appealed to rights groups to intervene.
Separately, Advocate Hakeem Baloch, who was picked up by Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and intelligence officials from his home on Brewery Road, Quetta, on 23 July, returned home after more than a month in custody.
In Khuzdar district, tensions remain high after the disappearance of passengers travelling in a van from Hub Chowki to Zehri tehsil. Four days ago, Pakistani forces intercepted the vehicle in the Peer Umar area, offloaded women and children, and took the van away along with its male passengers.
Families of the men, joined by local residents, have staged a sit-in on the Quetta–Karachi highway for four consecutive days, demanding their release. On Friday, security forces reportedly fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse demonstrators, injuring two. Protesters accused the administration of failing to act, saying residents of Zehri had been “held hostage in Wadh for days.”
The blockade stranded dozens of vehicles before the road was temporarily reopened following negotiations. Demonstrators, however, warned that they would resume their sit-in if the missing passengers were not released.
At a press conference in Quetta, Advocate Shahzaib Baloch, spokesperson for the National Democratic Party (NDP), condemned the rise in enforced disappearances and restrictions on political activities, calling them “unconstitutional and grave violations of human rights.”
He said that Ghani Baloch, a central member of the party, was forcibly taken into custody on 25 May while travelling from Quetta to Karachi, while another senior member, Sana Khetran Baloch, was detained by FIA officials at Multan International Airport on 10 August and remains missing.
He added that other members, including Gull Mir Baloch and Salal Baloch from Barkhan, and Zakria Baloch and Zahid Baloch from Karachi, have also been disappeared in recent months.
“The NDP is a political and democratic organisation whose only aim is the prosperity of the Baloch homeland and the advancement of democratic struggle,” Shahzaib Baloch said. “To forcibly disappear our members and collectively punish society amounts to ethnic and national cleansing.”
He accused the state of silencing political and democratic struggle in Balochistan through crackdowns, disappearances and laws such as the Maintenance of Public Order (3MPO) and the Prevention of Anti-Terrorism (PAT) Act, which allow detention without trial.