The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan carried out a staged encounter, and killed Bashir Ahmad, a 24-year-old resident of Surbandar, Gwadar. Bashir had been forcibly disappeared by security forces on May 13, 2024, during a raid on his home. His family reported his abduction, and his case was documented in HRCB’s monthly report for May.
Despite the public knowledge of his enforced disappearance, the CTD is spreading misleading claims, falsely labeling him as a commander of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in an attempt to justify his killing. These fabricated claims stand in contrast to the truth and contradict verified facts. Bashir Ahmad was a Gwadar Coastal Police officer who had been acquitted of all charges by the court before his murder. His family, who had been promised his release in recent days, instead received his tortured body, discarded in a desolate area after a staged encounter.
Bashir Ahmad’s killing is part of a broader pattern of violence in Balochistan, where innocent young people are forcibly disappeared and later extrajudicially murdered in fake encounters under the guise of counter-terrorism. Hundreds of Baloch have been targeted in a similar manner, after which the state has spread false narratives to obscure its human rights violations.
in November 2023, Balach Mola Bakhsh, a tailor, was similarly abducted, tortured, and killed along with six others in a staged encounter by the CTD. His killing sparked massive protests across Balochistan, with thousands demanding justice and an end to such atrocities. Like Bashir Ahmad, Balach was falsely accused of links to militant groups, a narrative repeatedly used by the state to target innocent individuals and suppress dissent. This recurring systematic pattern of violence is used to silence the Baloch people and justifying the militarization of the region.
We are deeply concerned that now Pakistan’s security forces, under the pretext of ensuring security, are escalating violence in Balochistan by targeting more innocent lives through massive military operation plans, which have already been initiated in many parts of the region. After failing to protect Chinese nationals in Balochistan, the state is killing previously disappeared persons and falsely portraying them as BLA militants in staged encounters. This tactic aims to appease China, cover up the state’s failures, and silence the Baloch people by creating an atmosphere of fear and oppression.
