Families stage protest over alleged custodial deaths of two missing men in Turbat

Balochistan [Pakistan], June 14 (ANI): Families of two young men allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing by Pakistani security forces are staging a peaceful sit-in outside the Deputy Commissioner's office in Turbat, the administrative centre of Balochistan's Kech district.
The relatives of 20-year-old Saifullah claimed that he was picked up by security forces on April 20.
Despite formally lodging a missing person complaint on April 23, they say there was no official response. When the family followed up on June 13, officials informed them that Saifullah had been killed in an alleged armed encounter on April 29 and buried, without notifying the family or disclosing the location of the grave.
In a parallel case, another young man, Shahjahan, was allegedly detained by Pakistani forces on April 14. His family said they remained unaware of his fate for nearly two months. On June 13, they were similarly told that he had been killed in an encounter and buried without any prior communication or consent.
Both families have strongly rejected the official version of events, insisting that the young men were in state custody following their disappearance and were killed extrajudicially.
The protest has drawn support from local residents, who have joined the families in demanding accountability, the identification of the burial sites, and transparency surrounding the circumstances of the deaths.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) condemned the reported killings, calling them part of an ongoing pattern of systemic violence in the region. In a statement, the committee expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and reiterated its call for an end to enforced disappearances and custodial killings, urging immediate and independent investigations into the incidents. (ANI)