At least 48 people were forcibly disappeared and 12 killed in Balochistan in January this year.
They are the latest victims of a military operation launched in Balochistan in the early 2000s to curb a separatist Baloch insurgency. Thousands have gone missing and hundreds murdered since then. Human rights groups, Pakistan’s own judiciary and a number of parliamentarians have held the powerful military responsible for such human rights abuses in Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
On Dec 27, security forces whisked away two people — Shakir son of Rafiq and Mullah Rahmat son of Majeed — from Balnegwar, Dasht, district Kech when they were travelling from Karachi to visit their families.
On Jan 4, the forces took away Muheem Jan son of Sakim and Ashiq son of Noor Muhammad during separate raids in Balnegwar.
On Jan 6, they raided a house in Bal area of Dasht, district Kech and took away 50-year-old Ibrahim, son of Brahim. Soldiers also harassed and assaulted the house’s women and children during the raid, injuring a young girl.
On Jan 13, in raids in various areas of district Harnai, the security forces took away seven people and shifted them to undisclosed locations. The abductees were identified as Shareef son of Khair Muhammad Marri, Wazeer son of Wahab Marri, Parvaiz son of Shakar Khan Marri, Murad Khan son of Daulat Khan Marri, Tothi son of Bando Marri, Alim Baig son of Meri Marri and Jango Marri.
The same day, they also raided a house in Tertij, district Awaran, and forcibly disappeared Saeed Baloch son of Allah Dad.
On Jan 16, they carried out a raid in Gishkore Gazzi, district Awaran, and took away Faiz Muhammd son of Bijjar, Allah Dad son of Faiz Muhammad and Saleem son of Muhamad Khan.
On Jan 17, paramilitary Frontier Corps personnel whisked away dozens of residents of Mazar Goth, district Awaran, but we were able to confirm the identity of only 18 abductees. They are Jameel son of Khuda Bakhsh, Ather son of Mehrab, Ganj Bakhsh son of Peer Muhammad, Manzoor son of Brahim, Saeed son of Muhammad Bakhsh, Waidhi son of Bazaidh, Muhammad Yar and Naikaal sons of Waidhi, Sheer/Sher jan son of Mohammad Bakhsh, Qadir Bakhsh son of Ganguzar, Atha and Basheer sons of Nazar Muhammad, kamalan, Charshambe son of Murad Bakhsh, Noor Muhammad Ghani son of Rustom, Allah Bakhsh son of Kareem Dad, Noor Bakhsh and his som Hoth Umeed.
On Jan 22, the forces raided the house of Master Kareem in Khalilabad area of Turbat, and whisked him away along with his son Malok.
On Jan 25, they took away two cousins, Bilal son of Hamza and Shakar son of Dawood, from Turbat, district Kech.
On Jan 28, they carried out a raid in the Soro area of Mand, district Kech, and forcibly disappeared four people — Hafeez son of Majeed, Salim son of Hussain, Jahanzaib and Nadeem sons of Elahi Baksh.
Separately, on the same day, the forces abducted Lal Jan son of Khuda Bakhsh from his house in Hub Chowki, district Hub.
On Jan 29, four persons were taken away during a raid in Ragey Thangi, district Washuk. The victims were identified as Zahoor son of Sadiq, Rafiq son of Mama Anwar, Khuda Rahim son of Qadir Bakhsh and Hamid son of Badal.
Murders
On Jan 1, a decomposed body was found in Garbi bypass, Kuchlak, which was moved to hospital by the police. The deceased was identified as Noor Ahmad son of Abdul Hameed Sulemani. According to medical reports, his body bore marks of torture.
On the same day, the body of Waheed Muhammad Hasni was found in Taftan, district Chagai. He had been abducted by unidentified gunmen five days before the body was found.
On January 4, unidentified gunmen opened fire on Saeed, a police constable, a resident of Sagar, distict Panjgur, and killed him for reasons not clear to us. Another person was wounded in the firing.
An unidentified militant shot down a person in Darbar, district Kalat. The body was taken to hospital for examination, but the identity could not be confirmed till the filing of this report.
On Jan 20, the security forces shot down two unidentified persons. According to the forces, they had been involved in several bombings.
On Jan 26, a man and a woman were killed by unidentified armed men in Zaidi, district Khuzdar. The reason behind the murders remain unclear.
The same day, two other people were killed in Thorger, district Harnai. Their identity could not be confirmed either.
On Jan 28, a decomposed body was recovered near Jabal Noor and was later moved to hospital for autopsy.
On Jan 30, security forces killed Essa Bugti son of Shahzaman Bugti in a ‘staged’ encounter. The forces had taken away Essa on 14 January, and demanded an unaffordable amount from the family for ransom.
