Families of missing underage students in Balochistan’s Quetta called on authorities on Thursday to recover their children, as local sources reported fresh military raids and detentions in the coastal town of Jiwani.
At a press conference at the Quetta Press Club, Samrosh Baloch said Pakistani armed forces had taken several minor students from their homes during raids carried out months earlier, after which their whereabouts remain unknown.
“For years, we have been subjected to raids without notice,” she said. “Young boys are picked up, kept missing for months, and sometimes released without explanation.”
According to the families, the missing minors include Hairbiyar Baloch, Afzal Baloch, Beebarg Qambrani, Noor Muhammad and Hammal Qambrani, all underage students who were taken during raids in October. The families said the boys have not been produced before any court, nor formally charged.
Samrosh Baloch said members of her own family had previously been taken into custody on multiple occasions and later released. She added that Pakistani forces carried out further search operations in her area on the night of 6 December, raiding homes for several hours without recovering any illegal material.
Separately, local sources said Pakistani armed forces conducted operations in Jiwani tehsil of Gwadar district, raiding houses in areas including Sadiq Bazaar, Kaldaan and Gapt.
The sources said more than seven men were taken into custody and transferred to undisclosed locations. Three of them were identified as Tufail, Jamshaid and Zohaib, while two labourers were also detained from the Kuntani area.
The latest cases come amid a wider surge in enforced disappearances across Balochistan. Earlier on Thursday, reports also emerged of military operations in the Gresha and Ornach areas of Khuzdar, during which several young men were reportedly detained and moved to undisclosed locations.