Balochistan: Student, Three Others Allegedly Taken by Forces
Quetta, October 30: At least three civilians in Balochistan's Kech district have been forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces in a series of separate incidents. The list includes a 16-year-old student, and local families say the cases follow a pattern of intimidation and abduction.
Akram, a civilian from the district, was allegedly seized on Monday by people believed to be Pakistani intelligence personnel. His case is the fourth disappearance in his family in recent days. Sources say he is now untraceable.
The chain of events began when Frontier Corps personnel asked the family to bring identity cards and residence certificates of their missing relatives to a camp. When Akram arrived with two other relatives to submit the papers, unidentified men in a car abducted him as the group was leaving. The others were allowed to go home. Sources claim the abductors had links to Pakistani intelligence agencies.
In another case, armed men entered the home of Shamsher Ahmad in the Turbat area of Kech. The 16-year-old is the son of Munir Ahmad Nadil, and he was taken at gunpoint. The family says those responsible belonged to a state-backed 'death squad'.
On Wednesday, Pakistani forces reportedly detained Hanif of Sorag in Kech and moved him to an undisclosed location. His whereabouts are still unknown.
These cases have emerged amid growing concern over non-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in the province.
Rights groups on Thursday accused the Pakistani army of killing two more Baloch civilians outside any legal process. One organisation said the body of Adeel Baloch was recovered on October 23 from the Sarkin area of Kech, three days after he was forcibly disappeared.
According to the organisation, Adeel and three other young men were detained during a raid in Kohar Bazaar by Pakistani security forces and state-backed death squads. The families said they had no information about where the men were taken, leaving them unable to determine their safety.