Five civilians, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed in two separate incidents in Balochistan’s Khuzdar, with local sources and a political party accusing Pakistani forces of responsibility.
Four people were shot dead when Frontier Corps personnel raided a home in Wadh tehsil of Khuzdar at around 10 p.m., local sources told The Balochistan Post. A woman was seriously wounded.
Residents later blocked the Quetta-Karachi highway in protest against the killings.
The Balochistan National Party (BNP) said FC personnel had carried out “indiscriminate firing” on civilians in Sonaro Paat Nadi, Killi Yar Mohammad, and called for a “transparent and impartial investigation” into the incident.
Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Sabiha Baloch said several people were also injured in the firing, including seven-year-old Shahzaib, and described the harm to civilians, particularly children, as exposing the “devastating human cost” of military operations in Balochistan.
She said civilian killings, injuries, enforced disappearances and what she described as collective punishment could not be treated as isolated incidents.
“The repeated use of military force against Baloch civilians, the killing of children, and the constant fear imposed on communities cannot be dismissed as isolated incidents,” she said.
Dr Sabiha alleged that the violence reflected a “deliberate and systematic policy” against the Baloch population, describing it as “genocide” and calling for international action.
Separately, 13-year-old Shafiq, son of Ibrahim, was killed a day earlier in a bombing in the Balbal area of Zehri, local sources said. More than 10 sheep and goats were also killed.
Pakistani authorities had not issued a response to the allegations at the time of publication.
The latest deaths come amid several recent reports of civilian casualties during military operations and aerial attacks in Balochistan.
Four civilians, including a six-year-old girl, were killed on Sept. 8 following reported FC shelling on homes in Kardigap, Mastung.
On Aug. 21, four orchard workers were killed and three others injured in a reported drone strike in the Gaith area of Khadkocha, Mastung.
More than 20 people, including women and children, were killed or injured on Aug. 12 in Gidar Goandhan, Surab, in a reported Pakistani airstrike on residential areas.