Enforced Disappearances Continue in Balochistan, Families Demand Accountability
Shaal, Balochistan: Enforced disappearances in Balochistan continue to draw alarm, as families report a fresh wave of abductions carried out by Pakistani security forces across multiple districts. At least seven young men have been forcibly taken in recent weeks, with authorities providing no information about their whereabouts or the reasons for their detention.
In Quetta, the family of Mufti Zubair, son of Murad Khan Jatak from Salehabad in Khuzdar District, said he was forcibly disappeared around midnight on November 20, 2025, from the Luck Pass area. According to relatives, he was taken by security personnel, after which all contact was lost.
His family has expressed deep anxiety over his prolonged absence and has appealed to human rights defenders, civil society organisations, and political groups to intervene for his safe recovery.
Similar incidents have been reported in Gwadar, Kharan and Quetta’s Saryab Road area. In Gwadar, Balach and Ihsan sons of Muhammad Hassan and graduates of the Federal Urdu University in Karachi, were taken from their home on January 22, 2026. Their family says no warrant was presented and no explanation was offered.
In Quetta, Hafiz Nazir Ahmed Lehri, a government employee, was disappeared from his residence on January 1 in the Saryab Road area. Meanwhile, in Kharan District, two other youths, Abdullah son of Hafizullah Siyah Pad and Farhad son of Ahmed Baloch, were taken from their homes under similar circumstances.
Abdullah was detained on January 18 without any legal documentation, while Farhad was abducted from the Rab Pat Jozan area and placed into a vehicle belonging to Pakistani forces.
Families of all the abducted individuals say they have received no official information regarding the grounds for the abductions or the current location of their loved ones. They have also criticised authorities for refusing to register First Information Reports (FIRs) and for failing to respond to repeated appeals.
Relatives and rights advocates describe the disappearances as illegal, unconstitutional and a grave violation of human rights, arguing that secret detention of civilians reflects an abuse of power and points to the innocence of the victims.
Human rights organisations warn that enforced disappearances in Balochistan have persisted for more than two decades, with recent years seeing a notable rise in abductions of both men and women, as well as killings staged in so-called “fake encounters.”
Civil society groups, including the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), have repeatedly called for transparency, accountability and the safe return of missing persons, stressing that continued impunity enables further abuses.
The families of the disappeared have vowed to continue protests, sit-ins, press conferences, and social media campaigns until their loved ones are returned safely. They insist that if any legal allegations exist, they should be presented in open court rather than enforced through secret detention.
