In the early hours of Tuesday, personnel from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) raided a house in Afnan Town, Quetta, and detained Dr Usman Qazi, an assistant professor at the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), along with his younger brother, Jibran Ahmed.
Sources said the operation took place at around 03:00, when Pakistani forces cordoned off the area, sealed the house, and prevented anyone from approaching during the raid.
Both brothers were moved to an undisclosed location after the operation. Their whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
Dr Usman Qazi holds a PhD and serves as an assistant professor at BUITEMS, while Jibran Ahmed is an MPhil Economics student. Both are residents of Nasirabad in Kech district.
PAANK, the human rights department of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), condemned the enforced disappearance, calling it “deeply alarming and utterly unacceptable”.
In a statement on X, the group said: “PAANK strongly condemns the enforced disappearance of Dr Usman Qazi… and his younger brother, Jibran Ahmed… The abduction of an academic and his young scholar brother is deeply alarming and utterly unacceptable.”
PAANK called for their “immediate and unconditional release” and urged that the authorities be held accountable for “this grave violation”.