Families of Missing Youth Block M8 Highway in Protest in Turbat

QUETTA: The families of four young men abducted from the Bahman area of Turbat staged a sit-in protest at Jadagal Dun, blocking the M8 highway on Sunday.

The families of the missing youth Rahil Ali Muhammad, Roshan Ali Muhammad, Naeem Bashir and Adam Baloch have demanded the immediate recovery of their loved ones, who were forcibly disappeared in the dead of night by Pakistani forces.

According to the families, the four young men were taken from their homes under cover of darkness, and since their abduction, no information has been provided by authorities regarding their whereabouts. Despite previous meetings and protests with the district administration, the missing youths have not been returned, prompting the families to take more drastic action.

“We have no information about our loved ones. We met with the authorities, we protested, but our children have not been found,” said one of the protesting family members. “We are blocking the highway today to demand their immediate release. We will not open the M8 highway until our four missing youth are safely recovered.”

The protesters vowed that if their demands were not met, they would escalate their actions by calling for a shutter-down strike in the city. “If our children are not returned, we will shut down the entire city. We will not rest until they are brought back to us,” the family members declared.

The ongoing protest has drawn attention to the growing issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, with activists and families continuing to demand justice for those who have been forcibly taken by Pakistani forces.

As of now, there has been no official response to the protests or the demands for the release of the missing young men.

The families’ actions have underscored their frustration and desperation, with many locals expressing solidarity with the cause, demanding that the authorities take immediate action to address the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.