Amid the Covid-19 lockdown, Balochistan witnessed a surge in military raids with 16 killed and 45 abducted in April. As many as 73 people had been picked up by the Pakistani forces, including students, women, children, and infants, but 28 were later released. The whereabouts of the 45 remain unknown.
A teenage boy Murad Jan was called in the military camp in the Rindak area of Mashkay, district Awaran, on April 10. For hours, he was tortured for not speaking Urdu language and later released and ordered to return the next day to the camp with an Urdu interpreter. He succumbed to the injuries the other day. He was the fourth member of his family tortured to death by the Pakistani army.
Sanaullah Mohammad Hasni, who had been forcibly disappeared by the forces from his home two years ago, was found dead on a roadside in Manguchar, district Kalat, on April 2. According to his family, his body bore signs of severe torture.
Settlements were burned down in weeks-long military actions in the Kech, Panjgur, and Awaran districts which left people homeless after returning from torture cells.
The region has seen military operations since the mid-2010s. During one such operation in August 2016, the whole area was kept under siege for more than a month. The mountainous areas were shelled by helicopters with all exits and entries blocked. Many houses and settlements turned to ashes. And then the people were forced to move out of the region. Families left their houses and wandered from Awaran of Balochistan to Jhao and then to the Lasbella, the district bordering Sindh.
On April 1, the forces raided several houses in Khalidabad and Kalatcheer areas of Mashkay, district Awaran. They forcibly disappeared four persons, Shakir Mirza, Abdul Nabi, Master Gulzar Kareem Bakhsh, and Daulat Mirza.
On the same day, the forces abducted two other people in two separate raids. They were identified as 19-year-old student Hakeem Mazar, picked up from his home in Gwadar, and Faiz Ahmed Jan Muhammad of Malant Tump, district Kech.
On April 7, four members of a family identified as Gohram Shafi Muhammad, Hameed Dur Muhammad, Khair Jan, and Zubair Majeed were abducted from the Jakki area of Mashkay.
Similarly, on the same day, forces picked up Tajo Jangi Ali Bugti, Zahoor Kohdil Bugti, Gwari, and Mangal Khair Muhammad from Zain Koh in Dera Bugti.
On April 14, forces abducted Iqbal Rasheed and four others during an operation in Keelkore, district Panjgur. The others were later released while Iqbal remains in custody.
On April 15, a large number of forces conducted raids in Kolwah, Tertij, and Malar areas of district Awaran, whisking away dozens of people and burning down many villages. The victims of enforced disappearance in these operations were identified as Shahdost, Dad Bakhsh, Master Badal Yar Muhammad, Dil Murad Qadir Bakhsh, Mahmood Dad Muhammad, Jaffar Mayar, Pindok Mia Sanjar, Noor Bakhsh Ahmad, Murad Jan & Abbas Aziz, Maqsood Pindok, Khuda Dad Pindok, Ashraf Murad Bakhsh & Charshambay Murad Bakhsh.
On April 16, the forces stationed in Bidrang Kolwah, district Awaran, summoned Saeed Ali Muhammad to their military camp for questioning. He has not returned.
On April 17, forces raided and burned down several houses in Bolor, Kolwah, district Awaran, and whisked away three persons namely Abdul Razaq Elahi Bakhsh, Rasheed Elahi Bakhsh, and Sudheer Elahi Bakhsh.
On the same day, Malik Raheem, a resident of Paroom, district Panjgur, was picked up from his home. His whereabouts are still not known.
On April 18, forces abducted Razzaq Kamalo and Adam Sommar from Loop, Balgatar, district Panjgur.
On April 20, forces raided a house in Doleji, Jahoo, district Awaran and took away Noor Khan Baloch.
On April 22, Sanaullah Ashraf Rind was forcibly disappeared from his house.
On April 25, forces whisked away Allah Bakhsh Mirza, Mola Bakhsh Jahangir, and Fida Hussain in Menaz Buleda, district Kech.
On April 28, forces conducted raids in Sorger, Jahoo, district Awaran, and abducted four residents identified as Mir Ghaos Bakhsh Umrani, Abdul Ghafoor Naik Muhammad Umrani, Muhammad Jan Umar and Hussain Eido.
Incidents of killing:
On April 7, the bodies of Bakhtiar and Mayar, residents of Besima, district Washuk, were found. They had been abducted from Gichk, Panjgur, by the militants of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), a separatist group, on March 30, 2020. The group claimed responsibility for the killings in a statement, accusing them of working for local death squads and being involved in several murders of their members.
On April 8, the decomposed bodies of Zameen Gull, a resident of Shangala, Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Muzzafer Khan, a resident of Shahrag, district Harnai, were found by Levies. They were coal mine workers who had been abducted along with two others. The abductors remain unknown.
On the same day, unknown armed persons opened fire on Sana Ullah Ismail, resident of Bolan, and killed him for unknown reasons. The local administration shifted the body to the hospital and initiated an investigation of the murder.
On April 9, a police ASI Barat Ali Hazara was gunned down in Hazara Town, Quetta. The body was taken to the hospital by the Edhi Foundation and was later handed over to the family after medical examination.
On April 15, unknown armed men shot dead Huzoor Bakhsh Mohammed Siddiq Bangulzai, resident of Mangochar, district Kalat. Three others were injured in the incident.
On April 22, the body of Gul Muhammad Darbaz was found in a room in Harnai by the Police. The body was sent to the hospital for further examination.
On April 26, four militants of the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), Noora Sherdil, Momin Muhammad Azeem, and Abdul Malik and Nawaz were killed by security forces and local death squads in an encounter. Malik and Nawaz were brothers.
On April 27, unknown persons gunned down Muhammad Qasim Bahram and Khuda Bakhsh Raheem Bakhsh for unknown reasons. A man and his daughter were also injured in the incident.
