Two more civilians, including a student leader and a student returning from abroad, were allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance by Pakistani security forces in Balochistan, the rights group Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) alleged on Saturday, 18 July. The incidents, according to BVJ, are part of an escalating pattern of extrajudicial crackdowns targeting the Baloch educated community across the province.

The Two Alleged Disappearances

Fazal Baloch, described as a central leader of the Baloch Student Front (BSF), was reportedly taken from his residence in the Hub Chowki region of Balochistan in the early hours of Friday by Pakistani security personnel, according to BVJ. His whereabouts remain unknown, the organisation said.

Separately, Shahab Baloch, a student currently enrolled at a university in Azerbaijan, was allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance by Pakistani security forces after returning to Balochistan for his summer break, BVJ revealed on Saturday.

Rights Group Demands Accountability

Condemning the alleged abductions, BVJ called on Pakistani authorities to 'immediately disclose his whereabouts and legal status, grant him access to his family and legal counsel, or promptly bring him before a competent civilian court if there is a lawful basis for his detention.' The organisation characterised such acts as 'serious violations of fundamental human rights.'

Shalee Baloch, central organiser of the Baloch Women Forum (BWF), alleged that several youths had been subjected to enforced disappearance within a single week across Balochistan, describing it as a 'sharp escalation' in the crackdown on Baloch students and educated youth. She said the rising frequency of such incidents reflects an 'intensifying campaign' against Baloch youths by Pakistani authorities.

Activists Call It a Systematic Pattern

In a post on social media platform X, Shalee Baloch wrote that 'the systematic targeting of Baloch students and graduates is described by advocates as a colonial tactic aimed at dismantling Baloch political consciousness, suppressing dissent and depriving the nation of its educated generation.' She added that families who sacrifice to educate their children are instead confronted with 'enforced disappearances, prolonged incommunicado detention and uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.'

BVJ noted that the targeting of Baloch students through enforced disappearances is 'not an isolated incident but part of a concerning pattern of violations against the Baloch educated community.'

Call for International Intervention

The Baloch activist urged the global community — including the United Nations and international human rights organisations — to take urgent action by pressing for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of all disappeared Baloch youths, ensuring their safe release, and holding Pakistan accountable under its international human rights obligations. This comes amid a broader wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances that rights groups say have intensified across Balochistan in recent months.