Quetta, Nov 26 Another civilian was extrajudicially killed by Pakistani forces in Balochistan, a leading human rights organisation said on Wednesday.
The latest act of brutality 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 30-year-old Jalal-ud-Din Baloch, employed as a driver, was shot dead by armed, masked men on a motorcycle.
The assailants opened fire while he was cleaning a vehicle at a service station, killing him on the spot.
Citing local sources, the rights body stated that the attackers were members of a Pakistan-backed death squad known for carrying out extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and targeted attacks across Balochistan.
“These groups operate alongside Pakistani security forces, creating an atmosphere of fear and coercion designed to suppress dissent and silence Baloch civilians,” the BYC stated.
According to the rights body, residents alleged that Jalal-ud-Din’s two brothers had previously been taken into custody by Pakistani forces. One brother, Diljan, was released after several days, while his other brother, Kamal, remains forcibly disappeared, with no information on his fate or whereabouts.
“The killing of Jalal-ud-Din underscores the ongoing pattern of state-sponsored violence in Balochistan, where residents continue to face enforced disappearance, torture, and targeted killing with complete impunity,” the BYC noted.
Earlier on Tuesday, as the world observed the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) called on the Pakistani authorities to end gross violence against Baloch civilians, particularly women.
“Though direct state repression on Baloch women has a long history, it was fueled in the 1970s. From thereon, we have an unending list of incidents when state departments began the excessive use of their power to suppress the indigenous women community,” the BWF stated.
According to the forum, the recent cases of forced disappearances of Mahjabeen Baloch from Quetta’s civil hospital on May 29 — which is about to complete 6 months of illegal detention and 15-year-old Nasreena Baloch from Hub Chowki on the night of November 22 are only two recorded accounts of Pakistan’s legally-crafted violence on Baloch women while several cases of such a nature are unreported for various reasons.
Highlighting the atrocities on Baloch women, the BWF said,
We are of the view that the direct involvement of Baloch women in state barbarism is an act to perpetuate cultural violence and distort the order of the Baloch society. In the existing Baloch societal standards and norms, women hold a significant status, but they are intentionally and institutionally reduced to becoming victims of violence, which not only shakes the cultural stance of the inhabitants, but also questions their human rights status.”
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