A man reported missing in December has been identified among seven people killed by Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Balochistan’s Ziarat district, according to the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP).
The CTD said the men were affiliated with the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and were killed in an exchange of fire in the Chautar area on Tuesday. Officials said the operation was intelligence-based and that the deceased were allegedly involved in multiple attacks.
But rights groups say at least one of the victims, Gul Muhammad Mari, had previously been forcibly disappeared. They are now urging families of missing persons to visit Civil Hospital Quetta to help identify the remaining bodies.
‘No encounter took place’
In a statement on Wednesday, the VBMP said the bodies were being kept at Civil Hospital Quetta. “Security forces have claimed to have killed seven individuals in Sanjawi,” the group said. “We fear that the missing persons may have been extrajudicially killed.”
On Thursday, one of the bodies was confirmed to be Gul Muhammad Mari, son of Ghulam Nabi. He was allegedly picked up by security forces in Sanjawi on 20 December 2024. His case had been registered with the Commission on Missing Persons, the VBMP said.
Local residents also rejected the CTD’s version of events, telling The Balochistan Post that no exchange of fire had occurred in the area. They accused the authorities of staging the encounter and dumping the bodies to give the appearance of a gunfight.
Body recovered in Panjgur
In a separate incident, the body of another man allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance was recovered from a remote area in Panjgur district.
The victim has been identified as Hassan Jan, son of Yar Muhammad, a resident of Sarikauran. According to local sources, Jan—an employee of the Levies force—was taken into custody by Pakistani forces on 29 April from the Chitkan Bazaar area. His body was later found in an isolated location.
These incidents follow a broader pattern of enforced disappearances and alleged extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. On 19 April, the CTD claimed to have killed five suspected militants in a shootout in Dukki district. Families and rights organisations later identified the victims as individuals who had previously been forcibly disappeared.
For nearly two decades, Baloch nationalist parties and human rights groups have accused Pakistani security forces of systematically targeting activists, students, and civilians. The state has consistently denied the allegations.
UN voices concern
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, United Nations human rights experts expressed “serious concern” over the “excessive and harmful impacts” of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations in Balochistan.
The experts described the “unrelenting use of enforced disappearances” in Balochistan as “a serious human rights violation and an international crime” and urged Pakistan to establish “independent and effective search and investigation mechanisms.”
They also raised alarm about “widespread torture, ill-treatment, extrajudicial killings and indiscriminate violence by security forces,” urging Pakistan to comply with international human rights and humanitarian law.