Have Three Baloch Youths Been Forcibly Disappeared by Pakistani Forces?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Three Baloch students have been forcibly disappeared, raising serious human rights concerns.
- Enforced disappearances are a growing trend in Balochistan.
- Human rights organizations are demanding immediate action from authorities.
- The military operations in Khuzdar district are causing civilian casualties.
- The situation in Balochistan represents a humanitarian crisis.
Quetta, Oct 18 (NationPress) A prominent human rights organization reported that a minimum of three Baloch students have been forcibly taken by the Pakistani security forces in Balochistan. This latest incident highlights a disturbing trend of ongoing persecution characterized by a rise in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture throughout the province.
The Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department (Paank) informed that Wahab Baloch, a resident of Sar Dasht in the Pasni region, and Nazeer Baloch, from the Isplinji area of Mastung, were forcibly apprehended by security forces during the night of October 16 to 17.
Wahab, a student at the Faculty of Sciences, relocated to Quetta for enhanced educational prospects, while Nazeer is a first-semester nursing student at the Nursing College in Civil Hospital Quetta.
“There is a troubling pattern where the state authorities of Pakistan have escalated their attacks on Baloch students through the heinous act of enforced disappearances. Almost daily, Balochistan witnesses reports of youths, predominantly students, being unlawfully detained by security forces without their families being informed of their location,” Paank expressed.
Paank condemned these “forced and unlawful arrests” and called for the immediate, unconditional, and safe return of the two Baloch students.
In another instance of enforced disappearance, the human rights organization Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) reported that Asad Baloch, a 26-year-old student, was abducted from Hudda in Quetta by personnel from Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Department on October 16. His whereabouts remain unknown, and a demand for his immediate release has been issued, alongside a call to end enforced disappearances in Balochistan.
On the previous Friday, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) strongly condemned the ongoing military operations in the Zehri region of Khuzdar district, where indiscriminate drone and airstrikes in the last month have reportedly killed and injured numerous civilians, including women and children.
“We are deeply troubled by the continuous military aggression and widespread human rights violations in the area. Civilians must not be targeted. The ongoing siege, unlawful killings, curfews, and deliberate deprivation of essential supplies imposed on the residents of Zehri constitute collective punishment and are leading to a deteriorating humanitarian crisis,” stated the HRCB.