Protests by families of missing persons continued in Quetta and Islamabad on Saturday, while three bodies of individuals previously reported as in custody were recovered in Balochistan’s Panjgur and Turbat districts.
In Quetta, the protest camp of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons outside the Press Club marked its 5,944th day. The organisation reiterated its demand that missing persons be produced before the courts. Participants at the camp said enforced disappearances were creating fear in Balochistan and called on the authorities to resolve the issue legally.
In Islamabad, a sit-in by Baloch families entered its 67th day. The protesters called for the immediate release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee leaders and for an end to enforced disappearances. Organisers said families, including women and children, had endured harsh weather conditions without their concerns being addressed by officials or covered widely in national media. They vowed to continue their protest peacefully until their demands were met.
Meanwhile, in Panjgur district, the body of Allah Dad, a teacher from Gichk, was recovered four days after he was allegedly detained by Pakistan armed forces in the Nag area. Local sources said the body bore signs of torture.
Separately, in Kech district’s Dasht area, Pakistani forces announced that four individuals were killed in an armed encounter and described them as members of an armed Baloch group. However, families and local sources claimed the men had been missing for months. Two of those killed were identified as Sattar son of Khalid and Tariq son of Haji Hamza, who relatives said were detained by Pakistani forces on 12 November 2024.
Baloch nationalist groups and international rights organisations have long accused Pakistani armed forces of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and staging fake encounters in Balochistan. Authorities deny the allegations, but reports of such incidents have increased in recent months.