Quetta, Dec 12 Leading Baloch human rights defender, Mir Yar Baloch, wrote to US President Donald Trump raising alarm over the recently approved $686 million US military aid to Pakistan, warning that the funds would enable further repression and terror against Baloch civilians.
The human rights activist highlighted that the Baloch people have endured seventy-seven years of Pakistani occupation, marked by enforced disappearances and systematic extermination, much of it carried out with weapons bearing the mark “Made in USA.”
In a letter addressed to President Trump, Mir said, “With the highest respect for you personally and for the great American people, we make this direct, solemn, and urgent plea: Immediately revoke and permanently cancel the recently approved military package to Pakistan including the $686 million F-16 sustainment and upgrade program and all associated security assistance totaling hundreds of millions more. These are not defensive tools. These are the very aircraft and munitions that have repeatedly bombed Baloch civilian areas, killed our women and children, and assassinated our leaders.”
Mir noted that Pakistan had sheltered Osama bin Laden for years while continuing to receive American funding. He alleged that Pakistan’s military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) took billions of US dollars intended to fight terrorism and instead used them to target American troops.
“Yet today, the same duplicitous and radical regime is being handed new American weapons that will be aimed, first and foremost, at innocent Baloch families,” the human rights activist stated.
Mir recalled that thirteen years ago, on February 8, 2012, the US Congress had highlighted the plight of the Baloch people. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by the former Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, convened a historic hearing titled “The Crisis in Balochistan.”
During that hearing, he said, American lawmakers stated on the record that Pakistan has been committing grave human-rights abuses against the Baloch people and US-supplied weapons are being used to kill Baloch civilians. They also stated that the “Baloch nation has the moral and historical right to independence.”
Urging President Trump that the moral clarity of 2012 now demands decisive action in 2025, Mir said, “ We therefore respectfully but firmly call upon you to: Immediately suspend and permanently revoke the entire F-16 sustainment and upgrade package for Pakistan. Freeze all pending military financing and security assistance until an independent review confirms none of it will be used against civilian populations in the Republic of Balochistan.”
(Auto generated news from IANS Feed. This has not been edited by enewstime desk)
