Balochistan Drone Attack Leaves One Dead and Six Injured
A drone attack in Balochistan's Kech district has resulted in the death of one person and left six others injured. The strike hit farm workers toiling in fields near the Dasht Cheri Kunjati locality.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a rights body, has condemned the attack in the harshest terms, calling it an act of 'state terrorism.' The group argued that the incident underscores the mounting insecurity that ordinary residents of Balochistan face daily.
The man killed has been identified as Hafiz Khan. Among the wounded are Hakim, Izzat, Gul Alam, Ehsanullah, Mohammad Alam and Rehmatullah, all reportedly residents of Quetta.
According to the BYC, the laborers had no link to any conflict or violence. They were working in the fields to feed their families and fulfil the basic needs of their children.
The organisation noted that the attack had deprived one household of its earning member and left many other families facing grief and an uncertain future.
'When farm workers, those who toil for their families and citizens living routine lives are not spared from attacks, people are left asking where they can seek safety,' the BYC said. 'If remaining indoors no longer offers freedom from fear, and leaving home to earn bread for children turns fatal, where exactly are the people of Balochistan supposed to go?'
The rights group reiterated that safeguarding citizens' lives and property and ensuring a secure environment is the core obligation of the state. It insisted that residents should not be forced to live in constant fear and danger.
'Placing the weight of government political failures and security policies on ordinary citizens, workers and farmers is entirely unacceptable,' the BYC stated.
Meanwhile, members of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) staged an awareness campaign on Sunday in Trier, Germany. Their goal was to bring global attention to alleged abuses by Pakistani security forces in Balochistan, including enforced disappearances, alleged fake killings and the forced displacement of residents.
BNM said participants held up photographs of missing persons, handed out leaflets and informed passersby about the worsening human rights situation in the province.
Speakers at the event cited reports that Pakistani officials have directed about 30,000 residents of the Shor Parod area in Kalat district to vacate their homes by October 30. They alleged that families who have lived there for generations are being compelled to take shelter in tents.