Quetta, September 30 (Daily Kiran) : A recent report from the Baloch National Committee (BNC) has raised serious concerns regarding human rights in Balochistan, Pakistan. According to the BNC’s human rights department, 507 individuals were reportedly subjected to enforced disappearances in the first half of 2026. Of these, 150 were released after brief detentions, while 32 are claimed to have died in custody. The report indicates that 303 individuals remain missing, with their families left unaware of their whereabouts or condition.
The report highlights that among the enforced disappearances, there are 44 minors and over 20 women. The highest number of such cases was recorded in Quetta and Kech.
The BNC alleges that the Pakistani paramilitary forces, particularly the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), played a significant role in these incidents. The report details the involvement of FC in 180 cases, CTD in 93, the Pakistani army in 42, and state-backed death squads in 20 cases. Some incidents reportedly involved joint actions by security forces, intelligence agencies, the CTD, police, and death squads.
Additionally, the report documents 150 killings of Baloch civilians during the same period, including 15 minors. The highest number of these killings occurred in Panjgur, followed by Kech and Gwadar. The BNC claims that state-backed death squads were primarily responsible for these murders, with the FC and the Pakistani army also implicated.
The report also mentions the alleged harassment of Baloch activists Mehrang Baloch and Bebarg Baloch, who have been in custody since March 2025. The BNC accuses prison authorities of denying them access to basic medical care at the behest of intelligence agencies.
According to the BNC, the human rights situation in Balochistan has deteriorated further in 2026, with severe restrictions imposed on fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, movement, and protest.
The organization alleges that authorities have repeatedly resorted to harassment, threats, arrests, and the use of force against peaceful protests by human rights organizations, families of the forcibly disappeared, and political groups.
The allegations against Pakistani security institutions are presented as claims from the BNC, and independent verification of these claims has not been conducted. Different organizations report varying statistics on human rights violations in Balochistan. For instance, another Balochistan-based human rights organization (Pank) reported 556 enforced disappearances and 227 alleged extrajudicial or custodial killings for the same period.
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