Two more civilians killed by Pakistani death squads in Balochistan

Quetta, Nov 5 (IANS) Another two Baloch civilians were extrajudicially killed by Pakistan-backed death squads in Balochistan, amid a growing pattern of state-sponsored killings in the province, a leading human rights organisation said on Wednesday.

The latest incident comes against the backdrop of a continuing cycle of persecution marked by a surge in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture across the province.

Human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) mentioned that Najeeb Ullah, aged 31, a resident of Meri-a-Kallag region in Kech district and employed as a junior staff member at a government school, was tragically killed by death squads. According to the rights body, the incident occurred on the morning of October 30, when a group of assailants in a white Toyota Corolla opened fire on Najeeb.

“The killing of Najeeb Ullah highlights a continuing pattern of extrajudicial executions and staged encounters carried out by state-backed militant groups in Balochistan. Such incidents have contributed to an atmosphere of fear and insecurity, inflicting deep psychological and emotional trauma on the region’s civilian population,” BYC stated.

Additionally, the BYC revealed that Abdul Khaliq, a resident of the Dashti Bazar region in Kech, was forcibly disappeared and later extrajudicially killed by death squads.

Following Khaliq’s enforced disappearance on October 28, his tortured and bullet-riddled body was recovered four days later from the Kech River, bearing multiple gunshot wounds and clear signs of severe torture.

The BYC stated that Khaliq had previously served as a soldier in Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC). During his tenure, he was allegedly pressured by senior Pakistani military officials to participate in the torture and killing of Baloch detainees. The rights body said Khaliq refused to comply with these "unlawful and unconstitutional" orders, and his refusal, along with his decision to live independently, made him a target.

Citing local sources, the BYC claimed that Khaliq was subjected to collective punishment and was ultimately abducted and executed by state-backed death squads operating in the region.

Highlighting the atrocities in Balochistan, Paank, the Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department on Wednesday strongly condemned the enforced disappearance of two Baloch youths, Shayak Qambarani and Saleh Muhammad, by Pakistani security forces and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel from Balochistan’s capital Quetta.

“Enforced disappearances are a grave violation of international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to which Pakistan is a signatory. Despite repeated calls from human rights bodies, the state continues to act with total impunity,” Paank stated.

The rights body demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all disappeared persons, including Shayak Qambarani and Saleh Muhammad, and called on the United Nations and international human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, to take urgent notice of the deteriorating human rights situation in Balochistan.

--IANS

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