Fresh allegations of enforced disappearances have rocked Balochistan, Pakistan, where security forces are accused of abducting at least seven men in coordinated operations. The cases, detailed by local media and families, underscore the province’s deepening human rights quagmire.
Turbat witnessed the pickup of nursing student Mehran Baloch on January 15 near a hospital. A Bal-Nigor resident, he was taken without explanation, his family confirms, mirroring a pattern of silent detentions.
Kharan’s escalated raids after an armed clash netted Owais Ahmad Kambohani with his vehicle in Baloch Abad. Concurrently, three Siapad brothers – Muneeb, Makhfar Abid, and Ahmad – disappeared during house searches, sources say.
In Quetta’s Killi Kambohani, Abdul Qahar and Musawwir Kambohani were allegedly hauled away from home, with no subsequent trace or official word.
Positively, five long-absent individuals returned recently, offering scant relief. Yet, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) rejected the government’s bold claim of having ‘permanently solved’ the missing persons problem post a cabinet meeting.
‘Deceptive and detached from reality,’ HRCB called it, as relatives persist in their quests. The 2025 stats are harrowing: 1,455 cases, 1,443 male and 12 female victims. Still missing: 1,052; released: 317; died in custody: 83; jailed: 3.
These numbers, HRCB argues, reveal persistent illegal practices. Families have exhausted legal and advocacy channels fruitlessly. The abductions bypass warrants, trials, flouting constitutional rights and UN conventions.
‘Labeling this propaganda insults years of evidence and grieving families,’ HRCB stated. Enforced disappearances demand prosecution as serious offenses. With Balochistan’s volatility, experts warn of escalating unrest unless authorities address these violations head-on, prioritizing rule of law over security pretexts.