Baloch activist alleges Pakistani forces opened fire on protesters in Quetta, killing one

Balochistan [Pakistan], March 22 (ANI): Prominent Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch has alleged that Pakistani security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in Quetta, leaving many injured and one person dead.
Taking to X, Mahrang Baloch condemned the incident, stating, "In Quetta, police opened indiscriminate fire on peaceful protesters, leaving many injured and one protester dead. This is how the state responds to peaceful demonstrations in Balochistan."
The crisis in Balochistan was also raised at the 58th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, where Niaz Baloch, Coordinator of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) Foreign Department and a Central Committee Member, highlighted the worsening human rights situation in the region.
He claimed that political organisations such as the Baloch Students Organisation-Azad (BSO-A) and the BNM continue to face severe repression, with members being arbitrarily detained, harassed, and silenced.
"Enforced disappearances have become a systematic tool of oppression in Balochistan," Baloch said, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.
He cited the recent disappearances of Beeberg Zehri, a Central Committee member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, and his brother, Hammal Zehri, a scientist. Additionally, Ilyas Baloch, a psychiatrist and Vice Principal of Bolan Medical College, was also among those forcibly disappeared, along with over a dozen members of the Qambarani family. Human rights activist Saeeda Baloch and her sister were also reportedly arrested.
Extrajudicial killings by state-backed death squads further underscore the human rights crisis, he alleged. As an example, he pointed to the brutal killing of Shah Jahan Baloch, the brother of BSO Azad's missing chairman Zahid Baloch, in Naal, calling it an instance of collective punishment inflicted upon Baloch families.
"These killings and enforced disappearances are not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate state policy to terrorize the Baloch population," Baloch asserted.
The BNM and other Baloch nationalist groups have long accused the Pakistani government of using enforced disappearances, targeted killings, and intimidation to suppress political activists and human rights defenders in the region. (ANI)