Four young men were killed during what authorities described as a police encounter in Karachi’s Shah Latif Town area on Tuesday night, while families of the deceased disputed the official account and alleged the victims had previously been forcibly disappeared.
Sindh police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said the men were affiliated with the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and were killed during an operation carried out in Malir district.
According to CTD Deputy Inspector General Capt. Azfar Mahesar, the raid was conducted based on information obtained from detained suspects. He said a police team came under fire after reaching a house identified during the investigation, leading to an exchange of gunfire.
Police said four individuals were killed in the shooting while two officers sustained injuries. Authorities added that weapons and explosive materials were recovered from the scene.
Three of the deceased were identified as Jalil s/o Noor Mohammad; Niaz Qadir s/o Qadir Bakhsh; and Hamdan s/o Mohammad Ali. The identity of the fourth individual has not yet been confirmed, police said.
However, relatives of the victims rejected the police version shortly after the incident, calling the encounter suspicious. Family members said the men had already been missing prior to the operation and that petitions seeking their recovery had been filed in courts.
Rights advocates and families have long raised concerns over similar incidents, alleging that some encounter killings follow periods of enforced disappearance. Authorities have previously denied such allegations.
Past CTD operations in Karachi and other areas have also drawn scrutiny, with calls from families and civil society groups for transparent investigations into alleged enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.