Youth shot dead by Pakistan-backed death squad in Balochistan

Quetta, July 18 (IANS) A Baloch human rights organisation condemned the extrajudicial killing of a youth on Friday, carried out by a government-backed death squad in the busy market of Kharan district, Balochistan. This incident occurred amid an increasing wave of human rights violations throughout the province.

Paank, Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department, mentioned that Mujahid son of Khair Jan was shot dead in the busy market of Kharan by “members of the state-backed death Squad; an armed group operating under the protection of the Pakistani army”. It stated that Mujahid was rushed to Sheikh Zayed Hospital but tragically succumbed to his injuries.

“This premeditated attack reflects a disturbing pattern of impunity, where death squads continue to target civilians across Balochistan with full state support. Paank strongly condemns this brutal killing and the ongoing role of Pakistani state institutions in enabling such violence,” Paank stated.

Revealing another such brutal incident, Paank on Thursday highlighted that Azmat Rind, a resident of Balochistan, was “tortured to death by Pakistani forces in custody”.

The rights body stated that Azmat Rind, son of Ameer Bakhsh Rind, a resident of Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan, was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani military personnel on June 5, near Sabzi Mandi, Naseerabad district of the province.

“After over a month in illegal custody, Pakistani forces informed his family on July 9 that Azmat had died from injuries inflicted under torture. Rather than handing over the body, the army secretly buried him in a remote area of Chatar, Naseerabad—violating all religious and cultural values,” Paank stated

“The custodial murder of Azmat Rind is part of a systematic policy of terror being waged by the Pakistani state in Balochistan, where the disappeared are routinely tortured and killed in military custody,” it added.

Another human rights organisation, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), on Thursday revealed that Ghulam Jan, son of Bejjar Baloch, who was residing in Tehsil Kolwah in the Awaran district of Balochistan, was extrajudicially killed on July 13 by Pakistan-backed death squad.

“According to local sources, Ghulam Jan had been previously subjected to persistent harassment and threats. His family was forcibly displaced from their native village, Pahu, due to repeated military intimidation. On the evening of July 13, Ghulam Jan was forcibly disappeared by State-backed death squads. Just hours later, his bullet-riddled body bearing visible signs of torture was discovered dumped in the Kuli area of Kolwah,” the BYC stated.

Various human rights organisations of Balochistan have time and again highlighted the repression by Pakistani forces in the province, which includes violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the 'kill and dump' policy, detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases.

--IANS

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