The government has placed nine women from Balochistan on its wanted list and announced cash rewards of between Rs1 million and Rs1.5 million for credible information leading to their identification, whereabouts or arrest, according to authorities.
The announcement was made by Babar Yousafzai, Adviser to the Balochistan Interior Minister on Media Affairs, who said the government considered the women highly wanted and urged members of the public to provide information to the authorities. Officials said the identities of informants would be kept confidential.
The government has described the women as being associated with “Fitna al-Hindustan”, the term Pakistani authorities use for Baloch “pro-independence” armed groups, and alleged that they were involved in activities intended to disrupt peace and security in the region. The allegations have not been tested in court, and no independent evidence establishing the women’s alleged roles was provided in the public statements reviewed for this report.
A poster published by the government identified the suspects as Hanifa Bibi, daughter of Sher Muhammad; Ayesha, daughter of Abdul Rasheed; Iqra, daughter of Ali; Ruqayya, daughter of Waleed; Hafsa, daughter of Iqbal; Zahra, daughter of Malik Muhammad; Amina, daughter of Abdul Rashid; Zareena, daughter of Wahid Baksh; and Aziza, daughter of Ibrahim.
According to the report, eight women carry a reward of Rs1 million each, while the government has set a Rs1.5 million reward for information leading to Aziza’s arrest.
The women reportedly belong to areas including Gwadar, Jiwani, Turbat and Pasni, all within or around Balochistan’s Makran region. Authorities have appealed to residents to provide information through designated channels and have stressed that members of the public should not attempt to apprehend the wanted individuals themselves.
The Balochistan government has alleged that the women are linked to militant activities and that some were allegedly “being used to influence or recruit other women.”
The government’s announcement comes amid continuing reports from Baloch political and human-rights organisations concerning the detention and alleged enforced disappearance of women in the region.
Organisations including the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) and the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) have repeatedly raised concerns over women who they say were detained by Pakistani forces and intelligence agencies and subsequently remained unaccounted for, with some later being presented before the media as suicide bombers after months of detention.
In November 2025, VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch said that 16-years-old Nasreena Baloch, described by the organisation as a minor from Awaran, had been taken from the Hub Chowki area during a military raid and that her family had not been provided information about her whereabouts. The Dawn News separately reported the family’s allegations and the concerns raised by VBMP.
However, Nasreena Baloch, Farzana Zehri and Rahima Bibi were later presented by the Balochistan government as suicide bombers at separate press conferences.
For further context on a similar case, read our TBP’s investigative report into the Rahima Bibi case.
The case illustrates the wider dispute surrounding women detained in Balochistan: security authorities have at times portrayed some detainees as having links to militant organisations, while families and rights groups have described them as victims of enforced disappearance or unlawful detention.
In recent years, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and other Baloch human-rights groups have documented what they describe as an increase in enforced disappearances involving women and have repeatedly called for detainees to be produced before courts if there are criminal allegations against them.