Balochistan: Seven out of nine victims of Ziarat massacre have been identified

QUETTA: The families of previously enforced-disappeared persons have recognised and confirmed the identity of seven out of nine victims of Ziarat massacre which took place on 14 July 2022.

The cold-blooded murder of nine Baloch missing persons is part of the Pakistan army’s usual collective punishment to avenge the death of serving military personal  Lieutenant Colonel Laeeq Baig Mirza who was kidnapped along with his cousin Umar Javed on Tuesday night July 12, 2022, from Balochistan’s Ziarat district. The Colonel and his cousin’s dead bodies were later found Ziarat.

The Pakistan Army’s media wing ISPR (Inter Service Public Relation) claimed in a statement on July 14, 2022, that the Pakistan army killed 9 Baloch freedom fighters in a rescue operation. The “rescue operation” was carried out to save the colonel and his cousin.  

However, It has now become clear that the nine men brutally murdered after the kidnapping of army personnel were previously disappeared persons and were killed in cold blood. The Army has staged the so-called rescue operation and killing of fighters. It was a lie that has now been exposed. Seven out of nine men have already been identified by the families of disappeared persons. Some of whom have been in illegal custody of Pakistani forces for months and others for years.  

The International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (IVBMP) in a brief statement on their Facebook page wrote: “Staged encounters are an ongoing trend of Pakistani forces to express their frustration and conceal their failure against Baloch struggle. This form of collective punishment is a war crime and a crime against humanity. Pakistani state must be held accountable for these crimes.”

The victims were abducted by security forces in different areas in Balochistan. Shams Satakzai Baloch was abducted in 2017, Engineer Zaheer Zaheer Bangulzai resident of Khuzdar,  was abducted from his office ‘Smartways Consultancy Limited’ on Airport Road Quetta by Pakistani forces on 7 Oct 2021.

Uzma Baloch, sister of engineer Zaheer Bangulzai wrote on Twitter: "You martyred my brother Shaheed Engineer Zaheer Baloch with such brutality. What kind of war was he was fighting with you? He had marks of handcuffs on his hands and bandages on his eyes. The marks of torture on your face and bullet wounds on his body. His right hand was broken in two places. You are a murderer."

Shehzad son of retired DSP Khuda Bakhsh Dehwar, who was forcibly disappeared by security forces from Quetta on 4th June 2022. His family has been on protest for his safe release since his abduction.

Pakistani forces abducted Physiotherapist Doctor Mukhtiar Baloch son of Abdul Hai resident of Khuzdar on 11 June 2022 from Musa colony Quetta.  Salim son of Karim Bakhsh resident of the Balgatar area in district Kech was abducted on 18 April 2022. The other two victims have named  Shah Bakhsh Marri and Jumma Khan son of Qaisar Chilgari Marri. He was forcibly disappeared in March 2022 from his home in Mia Kaor near Harnai. Their date and place of abduction of Shah Bakhsh and the identity of remaining two victims are yet to be ascertained.

Photo: Jumma Marri