Balochistan: Three Previously Disappeared Men Killed in staged CTD Encounter in Barkhan

SHAAL (QUETTA): Three individuals who had been victims of enforced disappearance were killed in a staged encounter by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in the Tang Karer area of Barkhan district on Tuesday morning.

Their bodies were later shifted to the Rakhni BHU Hospital, where they were identified by family members.

The deceased have been named as Abdul Rehman Buzdar son of Faiz Muhammad Buzdar, Fareed Buzdar son of Raheem Buzdar—both residents of Raada Sham and Sultan Marri son of Eido Marri.

According to local sources and the families of the victims, all three had been missing for several months after reportedly being abducted by security forces.

A CTD spokesperson claimed that the men were killed in an armed clash during an intelligence-based operation in Tang Karer.

According to the statement, two of the individuals were killed while several of their alleged accomplices escaped. The spokesperson further stated that weapons, including two Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, and two improvised explosive devices, were recovered from the site. The department also alleged that the deceased had links to a proscribed organisation.

However, human rights groups, Baloch nationalist circles, and the victims’ families have categorically rejected the CTD’s version of events, calling it a “fake encounter.” They insist that the men were in the custody of Pakistani forces and were extra judicially killed—part of what has become a well-documented pattern in Balochistan.

The CTD in Balochistan has gained notoriety for its involvement in fake encounters and custodial killings. Multiple incidents in recent years have drawn widespread condemnation, with human rights organisations accusing the agency of executing individuals who had previously been forcibly disappeared by the state, then staging their deaths as militant shootouts to justify the killings.

This latest incident echoes several previous cases. On April 19, 2025, CTD claimed to have killed five individuals during an operation in the Duki district. It later emerged that all five were on the list of forcibly disappeared persons.

Similar incidents occurred in Quetta’s Darakhshan area and Chautair in Ziarat, where CTD and other law enforcement agencies claimed to have neutralized armed suspects in gun battles—only for it to be revealed later that the victims were previously abducted by security forces.

Rights activists allege that Pakistani forces often kill abducted individuals in custody and then dump their bodies at encounter sites to fabricate a narrative of lawful engagement. “This systematic practice is not only unlawful but deeply inhumane,” said a Baloch rights advocate who requested anonymity due to safety concerns. “Enforced disappearances followed by staged killings have become a tool of terror against dissent in Balochistan.”