At least three people, including two women from the same family, were killed and five others injured in a Pakistani military drone strike in Zehri tehsil of Khuzdar district, Balochistan, on Wednesday night, local sources said.
The strike took place near Tarasani, where relatives said the family had returned home after offering condolences in Surab and were gathered outside a house when they were targeted.
The victims were identified as 40-year-old Bibi Amna, wife of Sanaullah; 41-year-old Lal Bibi, wife of Ali Akbar; and 30-year-old Muhammad Hassan, son of Muhammad Yaqoob.
The injured included 45-year-old Sanaullah, son of Ghulam Rasool; Ali Akbar, son of Abdul Hakeem; 38-year-old Abdul Nabi, son of Muhammad Yaqoob; four-year-old Umair Ahmed, son of Ghulam Rasool; and 65-year-old Mola Bakhsh, son of Mandao. They were transferred to Khuzdar for treatment.
Local sources said that the drones continued to fly over the area after the strike, spreading fear among residents.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the militaryโs media wing, said the strike targeted a hideout of Baloch armed fighters and killed four โinsurgents,โ claiming weapons and explosives were recovered.
Local residents and rights groups disputed the claim, saying the victims were civilians.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) condemned the strike, calling it โa grave violation of international humanitarian law.โ The group said three civilians โ identified as Bibi Amina, Lal Bibi, and Muhammad Hassan โ were killed, and five others wounded, including a four-year-old boy.
โThe use of jet fighters and drones against civilian populations is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,โ the BYC said, warning that such bombardments amounted to โcollective punishment.โ
It also noted that Khuzdar district has been under an internet blackout for months, which, along with media restrictions, allowed the military to โcommit atrocities with impunity.โ
The Baloch Women Forum (BWF) also denounced the drone strike, describing it as part of the โcontinuity of constant state barbarity on the Baloch people.โ It demanded accountability and compensation for the victimsโ families, saying, โNo law, whether state or international, supports the attack on civiliansโฆ this incident should be degraded in every forum.โ
Sammi Deen Baloch, a prominent rights activist and daughter of a disappeared political leader, also condemned the strike in a post on X, sharing images of the victims.
โThis picture is not from the oppression and bombardment of civilians in Kashmir or Palestine, but from Balochistan,โ she wrote. โFour members of the same family, including two women, were bathed in dust and blood. This is the horrifying face of decades-long state brutality in Balochistan, where ordinary civilians are showered with explosives.โ
https://twitter.com/SammiBaluch/status/1968705519864136128
She described the attack as โundeniable proof of genocideโ and accused international organisations of complicity through silence.
This was the second aerial operation in Zehri in a week. Two days earlier, the military confirmed airstrikes in the area, saying they destroyed a militant hideout. Local sources said civilians from the Pandarani tribe were among those killed.
Since August, at least four aerial strikes, including two drone attacks, have been reported in Zehri and neighbouring areas. Last month, Pakistani forces also carried out jet bombings in Bolan. Residents say the operations have created a climate of fear, with drones frequently hovering over villages.