Pakistan Separatists Blame Army As 6 Balochs Go ‘Missing’ in 3 Days; 345 Killed in 18 Months | Exclusive

Amid rising disappearances of Balochs, Sindhis or Pashtoons in Pakistan on a daily basis, two young students – Salim Baloch, son of Abdul Sattar, and Akram, son of Naeem – recently went missing from Absar area of Turbat. A total of six young Balochs have gone missing in three days.

Baloch student Miraj Aslam of Pisni went missing from Karachi on July 1, while two brothers — Ilyas and Hafiz, both residents of Kharan — went missing from Panjgur. Mohammad and Asim, residents of Khuzdar, went missing from Karachi, Asadullah went missing from Kharan, and Laila Latif went missing from Balida.

Salim is the cousin of another Baloch student, Bebagr Imdad, who was abducted from Punjab University on April 28, 2022. Bebagr’s disappearance was recorded on camera.

It has been nine years since the enforced disappearance of Azim Dost Baloch, the victim of enforced disappearance from Gwadar. Family members of missing Azeem Dost Baloch organized a protest rally on July 3, which saw the participation of a large number of women and children.

The women protesters demanded the safe return of their beloved kin and said the enforced disappearances must be stopped.

13,200 CASES OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN BALOCHISTAN ALONE

The Baloch National Movement (BNM) claimed that Pakistani forces forcibly disappeared 110 people from Balochistan, including 24 students and a journalist, in just six months of the current year (January to June 2023), while 14 forced missing persons were released from the torture cells of the Pakistan army after severe physical and mental torture.

The district profile of 41 people suggests that the majority of disappearances occurred in the districts of Kech (11), followed by Quetta (7) and Noshki (5), the Afghan Diaspora reported.

According to Baloch separatists who are observing the situation in Balochistan, the Pakistan Army was involved in the alleged killings of 345 individuals and the forced disappearance of 923 individuals in the region of Balochistan.

According to a source in the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), as of June 2023, there were over 13,200 cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan alone — this number was around 12,000 in 2021. The new data will be published in January 2024.

The Balochistan National Party Mengal (BNPM) claimed there were around 5,000 missing persons, but they were only provided a list of 1,000 individuals.