The discovery of 17-year-old Yahya Baloch’s body in Panjgur district’s Washbood area has thrust Balochistan’s human rights abuses back into the global spotlight. Abducted five months prior, the teenager’s corpse marks the latest in a string of extrajudicial killings by Pakistani forces, according to the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).
BYC’s Wednesday statement painted a dire picture: enforced disappearances and summary executions continue unabated, defying international norms even during Ramadan. The organization implored the UN and human rights bodies worldwide to launch inquiries and punish those responsible.
Compounding the tragedy, Pank reported nine additional civilians vanishing into thin air at the hands of the army. In Quetta, CTD operatives stormed the home of 17-year-old student Shoaib Ahmad Kambrani on Monday, abducting him in front of his family.
Kech’s Minaj saw FC personnel detain 45-year-old Rahim Bakhsh and four young men—Aali Ahmad (17), Yasir (19), Asif (17), and Abdul Rehman (18)—from their homes. Two brothers, Zakariya and Rehan, were taken during a February 26 raid in Turbat by FC and CTD. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Saddam disappeared from Quetta’s Brewery Road on February 16 courtesy of CTD.
As Balochistan grapples with relentless military crackdowns, the voices of the disappeared grow louder through groups like BYC and Pank. The international community faces a moral imperative to act, lest the province descend further into a humanitarian abyss.