Reports indicate that Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have allegedly forcibly disappeared two more individuals from the Khuzdar and Kohlu districts of Balochistan. Meanwhile, two previously detained individuals have been released.
During a midnight raid in Civil Colony, Khuzdar on Saturday, two Baloch youths were reportedly taken by Pakistani law enforcement agencies and moved to an undisclosed location. The missing individuals have been identified as Badin Khan, son of Mir Mushtaq Ahmad Qalandrani, and Jabran Khan, son of Long Khan.
It’s worth mentioning that both youths hail from the Tootak area of Khuzdar. This is the same area where, on 18th February 2011, Pakistani forces forcibly disappeared 29 people during a large-scale military operation. Among the missing, Maqsood Qalandrani was killed while in custody, and his mutilated body was dumped on July 26, 2011. Notably, mass graves were discovered in Tootak in 2014, where more than one hundred and seventy human remains were found.
In a similar incident, personnel from the Paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) detained two individuals from the Jantali area of Kohlu. The detainees, identified as Chatta, son of Sahib Marri, and Khair Jan, son of Mihar Marri, have been missing for four days with no information regarding their whereabouts.
Regional sources reported to TBP correspondent that the aforementioned men were attacked and injured by a government-backed armed group (locally known as Death Squad) before being taken into custody by the forces on Tuesday. The district authorities have not yet commented on the incident.
In a separate development, Ejaz Buzdar, son of Saeed, who was forcibly disappeared from Dera Ghazi Khan by the forces, has been released and returned home. Ejaz Baloch was taken away on September 23, 2023, by officials of the Pakistani security forces.
Similarly, Shoaib, who previously forcibly disappeared, has also been released and returned to his family.
Enforced disappearances in Balochistan are not uncommon and have intensified in recent days. Despite this, the authorities have not yet negotiated with the participants of the Long March against the “Baloch genocide” and enforced disappearances in Balochistan, who have been staging a sit-in in Islamabad for the last 36 days.