A young Baloch student has reportedly been taken into custody by Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Dera Ghazi Khan and remains missing, amid ongoing protests against enforced disappearances across Balochistan.
According to local sources, CTD personnel raided a house in the Baloch Colony area on the night of 2 November and detained Muhammad Ashraf, son of Muhammad Deen, a student at Ghazi University. He was allegedly taken to an undisclosed location, and no information has been provided regarding his detention or any charges against him.
Ashraf is said to be a cousin of Rasheed Buzdar, a member of the Baloch Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade, who was killed earlier this year in a clash with Pakistani forces in Nushki. Following Buzdar’s death, local residents said Pakistani armed forces carried out multiple raids on the family home and questioned several relatives.
Sources added that three other Baloch students were also allegedly detained from the area on the same night. Their identities have not yet been confirmed.
Meanwhile, in Quetta, the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) protest camp against enforced disappearances entered its 5,996th day on Tuesday.
Family members of Sher Muhammad Marri, who disappeared nearly a year ago, joined the protest after traveling from Harnai. They said Pakistani armed forces detained him on 15 December 2024 at the Spaintangi checkpoint, taking him from a vehicle in front of his family. He has not been produced before any court since.
Nasrullah Baloch said the VBMP has submitted Sher Muhammad’s case to both the Commission on Missing Persons and the Balochistan government, but “no meaningful progress” has been made. He urged authorities to ensure the recovery of all forcibly disappeared persons and to end the practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.