The victims include students, journalists, and peaceful protesters, many of whom were abducted from cities such as Karachi and Islamabad….reports Asian Lite News
A human rights organisation on Monday revealed that 785 individuals were forcibly disappeared and 121 were extrajudicially killed in Balochistan at the hands of Pakistani forces and “state-backed death squads” since the start of 2025.
Paank, the Baloch National Movement’s Human Rights Department, mentioned that the daily toll of disappearances and killings was at an average of four enforced disappearances and one killing per day.
The victims include students, journalists, and peaceful protesters, many of whom were abducted from cities such as Karachi and Islamabad.
“These actions were carried out by security forces and state-backed death squads operating with complete impunity,” said the rights body.
This comes just after Dil Jan Baloch was extrajudicially killed by the state-backed death squad on August 2 after he was forcibly disappeared on July 22 from the Kech district in Balochistan, according to the human rights organisation Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).
Another incident happened on Sunday when Inayat Khair Mohammad, who was forcibly disappeared last December, was killed by the Pakistan-backed death squad, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) said.
The rights body stated that these groups, locally referred to as “death squads,” are known to operate with “impunity” and are widely believed to “act as proxies for state interests in Balochistan.”
“This pattern is consistent with previously documented tactics aimed at silencing voices critical of state policy in Balochistan while avoiding formal channels of justice and oversight,” the HRCB stated.
The rights body emphasised that these practices constitute ongoing “violations of Pakistan’s binding international human rights obligations,” including those under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), particularly the right to life, protection from arbitrary detention, and the prohibition of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing.
The human rights organisations have repeatedly called for international scrutiny and credible accountability mechanisms to ensure justice for victims and to deter further violations in Balochistan.
