Two people were seriously injured in a reported drone strike near a house in the Khadkocha area of Mastung district, Balochistan, according to initial reports.
The injured were identified as Javed Hammad, son of Sher Muhammad Shahwani, and Allah Bakhsh, son of Kabir Hammad. Local residents described the incident as a drone attack.
Following the incident, both injured men were taken to a hospital for medical treatment, where they are receiving care.
The incident comes amid previous reported drone and aerial strikes in Balochistan in which accounts from affected families and residents have differed from those issued by Pakistani authorities.
In September, four young men, including three cousins, were killed and two others injured in a reported Pakistani military drone strike on civilians that had gone for a picnic in the Kech district.
Sources said Pakistani military personnel removed the bodies from the site and took the two injured men away after the strike. The bodies were later returned to the families, and funeral prayers were held in Balicha Talokan.
Pakistani authorities described the deceased as suspected militants and claimed that weapons and ammunition had been recovered from them. However, the victims’ families and local residents rejected the account, saying the young men were civilians who had gone to the mountains for a picnic. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) also challenged the military’s account and called for an independent investigation into the killings.
In August, residents of Gidar Goandhan in Surab district reported that Pakistani military aircraft had struck residential areas, killing and injuring civilians, including women and children, and damaging homes.
The Pakistani military offered a different account, saying explosives had detonated prematurely while militants were preparing a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. It said the initial explosion triggered further blasts and that Pakistani forces subsequently killed additional alleged militants during an operation.
The victims’ families and local residents rejected the military’s account, maintaining that residential areas had been bombed from the air. Several Baloch human rights organisations, including the BYC, the Baloch Women Forum and Baloch Voice for Justice, also challenged the military’s version of events and called for an independent investigation.
Pakistani military authorities had not publicly commented on the incident at the time of reporting.
Related: BNM Launches International Campaign Following Surab Airstrike
Inside the Surab Bombing: A Village in Ruins, a Military Account in Dispute — TBP Report