Master Inayatullah Jattak, father of Asma Jattak, was shot dead by armed men in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district on Tuesday, hours after she released a video statement appealing for protection and saying her family had been threatened.
Local sources said Inayatullah Jattak, a retired teacher, was attacked in Shahzad City while he was on his way to a mosque. He died on the spot.
The sources alleged that members of an armed group locally referred to as a “death squad” were behind the killing.
The killing came hours after Asma Jattak released a video statement in which she said Zahoor Jamalzai and his group continued to threaten her. She said the group had threatened to kill her father and brothers and warned that she could be abducted again.
Asma Jattak was reportedly abducted from the Police Lines area of Khuzdar on February 5, 2025. Her abduction triggered protests and rallies across Balochistan, as well as calls from rights groups and civil society for her safe recovery and a transparent investigation.
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Following her recovery, Jattak maintained that she had been abducted and forced to record videos during her captivity, which were later circulated on social media.
In her latest video, Jattak said no action had been taken against those involved in her abduction, despite repeated complaints, and that the perpetrators continued to move freely.
She appealed to government authorities, state institutions, political leaders and the public to provide justice and protection. She also urged former Balochistan chief minister Sanaullah Zehri and Naimatullah Zehri to intervene.
Jattak said that if the government and local tribal leaders failed to provide justice and take action against those responsible, she would be left with no option but to take her own life. She said responsibility would lie with Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and former chief minister Sanaullah Zehri.
Rights groups and political leaders condemned the killing of Inayatullah Jattak and called for an independent investigation.
Dr Shalee Baloch, chief organiser of the Baloch Women Forum (BWF), said the killing of Asma Jattak’s father only hours after she publicly revealed threats from what she described as “state-backed death squads” was a “chilling reminder of the systematic intimidation faced by Baloch families.”
She said the killing showed that threats were not confined to those who spoke out, but extended to their families “in an apparent attempt to silence, intimidate and collectively punish” them.
Dr Naseem Baloch, chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), strongly condemned the killing and alleged that Zahoor Jamalzai was responsible.
He said the killing had been preceded by “clear and repeated threats”, adding that Asma Jattak had expressed fears in a video circulated hours earlier that her father and brothers could be killed.
Baloch Voice for Justice also condemned the killing, saying it came only hours after Asma Jattak appealed for protection while holding the Holy Quran and warning that her life and the lives of her family members were under serious threat.
The rights group called for an independent and transparent investigation into the killing of Inayatullah Jattak, the immediate arrest of those responsible and accountability for those it said were shielding perpetrators from justice.
Authorities had not announced a motive for the killing, and no arrests had been reported at the time of publication.