Pakistan CTD police killed three previously abducted Baloch

QUETTA: The Pakistani police’s Counter Terrorism Department has claimed to have killed at least three ‘terrorists’ in an intelligence-based operation in Khuzdar, Balochistan on Wednesday.

The dead bodies of three victims of the Khuzdar incident were shifted to the Teaching Hospital in Khuzdar District, Balochistan.

According to Humgaam News, the dead bodies brought to the Khuzdar Teaching Hospital were identified as that of Abdullah son of Arz Muhammad Lotani resident of Zehri, Hamza son of Muhammad Ibrahim resident of  Washuk, and Aftab son of Shah Muhammad Sumalani resident of Quetta.

The CTD’s claim was, however, rejected by the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons as it said that one of the victims was abducted by Pakistani forces this year.

So far the identity of at least two dead bodies among three have been ascertained as that of previously abducted Baloch.

The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons confirmed that one of the three persons whom the CTD has claimed to have killed in an encounter in Khuzdar, identified as Aftab Sumalani, was forcibly disappeared by the forces from Hazarganji Quetta on August 11, 2023. The organisation had also referred his case to the Commission on Missing Persons but to no avail.

Sources also reported that Abdullah was abducted by Pakistani forces two years ago and has been in their illegal custody since.

The Counter-Terrorism Department CTD is the mastermind of the notorious fake encounter across Balochistan. It has previously killed several enforced-disappeared Baloch in similar staged encounters.