Pakistan's Balochistan has just witnessed one of the province's deadliest ever episodes: a wave of attacks and clashes across several cities that left dozens of civilians, fighters, and security personnel dead, with official but unconfirmed tolls as high as 200 overall. It marked the latest escalation in decades of conflict between separatist groups and the Pakistani state in Balochistan, where the central government has long been accused of exploiting rich resources while marginalizing the local population.
But before the region came under the shadow of the recent violence [10], public attention was focused on the abduction of a young Baloch student, a case that has reignited simmering anger over enforced disappearances. For more than 6,000 days, activists [11] have maintained [12] a protest camp outside the press club in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, demanding answers for hundreds of missing Baloch citizens who have been allegedly abducted, tortured, and killed by Pakistani security forces.
The history of these abductions, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions targeting political activists, journalists, lawyers, and students dates back to the 1970s, but the July disappearance of a 24-year-old university student in Islamabad brought the longstanding issue back to the fore.
On July 8, Saeed Baloch, a defense and strategic studies student at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) was dragged off a bus in broad daylight. Saeed's case moved to the center of the national conversation after a second wave of student-led demonstrations at QAU in late November. The protesters are demanding an end to the ethnic profiling of Baloch students, and to have the university conduct a transparent investigation into Saeed's disappearance.
Since the accession of Balochistan in 1948—an event Baloch nationalists describe as annexation but Islamabad regards as legal integration—what became Pakistan's largest and most sparsely populated province has experienced a decades-long insurgency, driven by grievances over political autonomy, resource exploitation, and human rights abuses.
Relations between the Baloch and the Pakistani state have been marked by cycles of conflict and accusations of disenfranchisement. Activists in Balochistan have repeatedly demanded a greater share of the province's oil and gas revenues, which they say disproportionately benefit other regions. This has led to a series of conflicts, with each wave of armed resistance met by military suppression.
The current phase of the insurgency—starting in the 2000s and led largely by educated, middle-class youth rather than traditional tribal leaders—has been marked by widespread enforced disappearances [14].
According to activists, around 7,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Balochistan [15] in the past 12 years. Victims are first identified as being Baloch, then targeted as a result of a specific social or political stance within their community.
One of the earliest known cases involved Asad Mengal [16], son of former Balochistan Chief Minister Attaullah Mengal, who was abducted in Karachi. More than four decades later, his fate remains unknown. During the 2000s, the practice continued. Thousands were abducted [17] under the guise of counter-insurgency and national security. Bodies of the disappeared would later resurface in far-off locations [18], bearing signs of severe torture, a period Baloch activists describe as the "kill and dump [19]" policy.
Prominent activists such as Ghulam Muhammad [20], Qambar Chakar, Ilyas Nizar [21], and Sangat Sana were killed. Others, including Zakir Majeed [22], Deen Muhammad [23], and Zahid Baloch, remain missing.
"The very existence of the Baloch is perceived as a threat to the state," said Sabiha Baloch, head of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a women-led organization fighting rights abuses in Balochistan. "The more educated, conscious, and politically aware the Baloch become, the more threatened the state feels."
The BYC itself came under state scrutiny following a 2023 march led by former head Mahrang Baloch [24], which went from Turbat to Islamabad [25] to protest what organizers described as genocide. Upon reaching the capital, protesters faced police batons, water cannon, arrests, and accusations of being foreign-funded "extremists." Last March, Mahrang Baloch was arrested [26] during a protest in Quetta and is now facing charges of terrorism, violence, and anti-state activities.
"Pakistan's economy remains deeply tied to the exploitation of Balochistan," Sabiha added. "As long as Baloch and Balochistan exist, this threat perception would translate into increasingly violent responses, which range from the abduction of men and women to the killing of Baloch people."
— Amir Naeem for The New Humanitarian [27], Feb. 3, condensed. Read full article here [27].
