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Violence in Balochistan escalates as rights groups report extrajudicial killings by Pakistani forces

Published On Sat, 10 Jan 2026
Asian Horizan Network
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Quetta, Jan 10 (AHN) As violence against civilians continues to escalate across Balochistan, leading human rights organisations on Saturday brought to light the extrajudicial killing of two Baloch civilians by Pakistani forces.
Paank, the Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department, mentioned that Balach Baloch, a resident of Tasp area of Panjgur district, was killed on January 8 after individuals allegedly linked to a Pakistan-backed death squad attempted to detain him and fatally shot him as he tried to flee.
“This killing highlights a broader pattern in Balochistan, where security forces are using proxy armed groups for enforced disappearances and targeted killings, often against political and social activists and, at times, their families. Such acts constitute serious violations of international human rights law,” the rights body stated.
Highlighting atrocities against Baloch civilians, another human rights body, Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ), on Saturday revealed that a minor boy, Raahi Baloch, was shot dead outside his shop in the Hoshab area of Kech district in Balochistan on January 5.
Citing local sources, the BVJ alleged the involvement of a Pakistan-backed death squad in the killing of Raahi. The rights body described the brutal killing of the minor boy as part of an ongoing genocide against the Baloch civilians.
“This killing occurs amid an escalating pattern of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch children. Days earlier, a 13-year-old boy, Gohram Baloch, was forcibly disappeared from Quetta. Similar cases are being reported across Balochistan, with allegations of involvement of state security forces and affiliated armed groups,” the rights body stated.
Meanwhile, in its latest report, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) documented at least 1,455 cases of enforced disappearances in 2025.
The HRCB alleged that Pakistan’s Frontier Corps was involved in the largest number of abductions, with 889 cases documented. Additionally, Pakistani intelligence agencies were implicated in 288 cases, followed by the Counter Terrorism Department with 233, and death squads with 41.
According to the rights body, house raids were the most common method of abduction, accounting for 985 cases, followed by detentions with 372, checkpoints with 66, and individuals summoned to military camps with 32.
People from Balochistan are currently fighting for their independence from Pakistan.
Various human rights organisations in Balochistan have repeatedly highlighted the repression carried out by Pakistani forces in the province. These actions include violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the alleged “kill and dump” policy, detentions under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases.