Pictures of two people, who were reported abducted from Balochistan’s Panjgur district, have been published on the social media, allegedly by their abductors.
According to local sources, the Pakistani forces and members of the state backed death squad had abducted two youths from Geshti, Paroom area of Punjgur, two days earlier. The abducted individuals were identified as Hameed son of Mureed and Muhammad Rahim son of Qadir Buksh. Reportedly, both of them were forcefully taken into custody and later disappeared by the Pakistani forces.
The pictures of the victims were released on social media later on Monday. The locals and political circles claim that those social media accounts belong to the local “death squads”. According to sources, the two young men were forcibly abducted while they were working in the farms.
According to Baloch nationalists; death squads are state-backed local militias created and controlled by the Pakistani military and used to do its bidding in Balochistan. Their primary goal is prying on Baloch political activists especially the “pro-independence” leaders and denouncing them to the military or target kill them. They are assisting the Pakistani security forces in raids in various areas in Balochistan. To reciprocate for their espionage, the Pakistani authorities have given them a free hand in Balochistan: these militias are involved in a myriad of social ills, like robberies, drug trafficking, ransom kidnapping and so on.
It is important to mention that this is not the first such incident where the “death squads” are reported to have boasted about their illegal acts on social media. Baloch political and social circles allege that these death squads do not face any legal action due to the support of Pakistani forces and intelligence agencies.
Earlier this month, a Baloch social activist and a local businessman named Malik Meeran was also forcibly disappeared allegedly by the Pakistani military and members of the death squads from the Paroom area of district Panjgur.
Similarly, according to reports, another person named Altaf Jada was abducted and brutally murdered by the members of ‘death squads’ in Balgatar area of district Kech. Picture of his dead body was later released by the “death squads” on social media portraying him as a Baloch freedom fighter, which could not be proved by any evidence. As well as the victims family and friends also denied his involvement with any militant or political groups.