&w=3840&q=100)
Balochistan families allege ‘fake encounters' as youths go missing, found dead
A fresh surge of alleged fake encounters by Pakistani forces in Balochistan has triggered widespread anger. Rights activists say security agencies are killing detainees and disguising the deaths as armed clashes. read more
A fresh wave of suspected fake encounters in Balochistan by Pakistani forces has sparked public outrage in the country's restive province.
Baloch rights activists have accused security forces of killing three people in custody and staging the incidents to appear as armed clashes. The three deceased have been identified as Abdul Rehman Buzdar, Fareed Buzdar, and Sultan Marri. Their mortal remains were later shifted to the Basic Health Unit hospital in Rakhi.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Monday that it had killed three militants in an operation in Barkhan district.
However, families and Baloch rights groups rejected the claim, stating that the men had been missing for months and were victims of enforced disappearance.
Activists alleged that 'the men were executed after being held in illegal detention.'
Earlier, a spokesperson for Pakistan's CTD claimed that the men died during an exchange of fire and that weapons had been recovered from the scene.
However, Pakistan has long presented such narratives, while its agencies and forces are frequently accused of committing human rights violations, including enforced disappearances.
In another incident, a young man named Ghaus Bakhsh was found dead in the Kolwah tehsil of Awaran district. He had reportedly been summoned to a nearby military camp, and his body was discovered a few hours later, bearing signs of torture.
Pakistan continues to suppress the Baloch insurgency and calls for independence through enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the crackdown on peaceful protests.
In March 2025 alone, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan documented 151 enforced disappearances and 80 killings, highlighting a sharp escalation in violence and repression.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
‘Whole world now knows the truth': Shashi Tharoor-led delegation wraps up US visit; urges global terror fight
NEW DELHI: The multi-party parliamentary delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on late Sunday concluded its high-level visit to the United States, wrapping up the final leg of a diplomatic mission aimed at building international consensus on India's counter-terrorism stance following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 26 people dead. Taking to X as he wrapped up the US visit, Tharoor wrote: 'If you are born a hundred times, you will do it a hundred times. I will love my country with all my heart… A Watan. The whole world now knows the truth. We are lovers of non-violence, but only until someone tests that... Jai Hind!' — ShashiTharoor (@ShashiTharoor) On the final day of the tour, the delegation paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Washington. Tharoor later posted on X: 'It is striking how many world capitals are adorned with statues or busts of the Mahatma, the 20th century's greatest apostle of peace, nonviolence, and human freedom.' The group, which arrived in Washington on June 3 after stops in Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, met with several key American leaders including US Vice President JD Vance, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, senior members of Congress, policy experts, and members of the Indian-American community. Describing the meeting with Vance as 'an excellent meeting,' Tharoor said the Vice President was 'warm and welcoming and receptive,' and 'expressed complete understanding, first of all, outrage of what happened in Pahalgam and support and respect for India's restrained response in Operation Sindoor.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Capital Gains Exemptions for Seniors SmartAsset Learn More Undo A US State Department spokesperson said Landau 'reaffirmed the United States' strong support of India in the fight against terrorism and the strategic partnership between the two countries.' Addressing the Centre on Foreign Relations, Tharoor had said India's actions were targeted at terror infrastructure, not civilians. 'We're not interested in attacking Pakistani civilians, ordinary people. This is about India versus terrorism… If you're not prepared to shut down the safe havens or arrest terrorist leaders, then I'm afraid this is the only way we can deal with it,' he said. Referring to Pakistan's military, he added, 'In India, the state has an army. In Pakistan, the army has a state,' accusing Islamabad of manipulating public opinion through conflict. Tharoor dismissed claims of Pakistani success during the brief hostilities that followed, saying, 'Two videos came out on social media, both turned out to be from other conflicts in other years, nothing to do with this one.'
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Jaishankar heads to Europe: Strategic talks with EU, defence push in France post Operation Sindoor
S Jaishankar's Europe visit aims to bolster strategic ties with France, engage with the EU, and strengthen economic partnerships with Belgium. Discussions with France will focus on their 25-year strategic partnership, with India seeking to replenish its arsenal of French-origin weapons, including Rafale fighter jets and SCALP missiles, following their effective use in recent cross-border actions. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar will hold a strategic dialogue with the European Union, look to exchange notes and strengthen bilateral ties with France and boost the economic partnership with Belgium during a week-long visit to Europe starting visit comes after the recent cross-border action against terrorists which escalated into a larger military conflict that ended with precision strikes on Pakistani air bases and military installations before a ceasefire was the first leg of his visit, the minister will visit France, which is India's strongest partner in Europe. India and France have completed 25 years of strategic partnership and during the visit, the minister will participate in the inaugural edition of the Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue being held in will also have bilateral discussions with his counterpart, minister for Europe and foreign affairs of France Jean Noel Barrot, and will engage with the senior leadership of France, besides interacting with think and France share a similar outlook on many regional and global issues and the Indian armed forces have relied on cutting edge technology and weapons from French manufacturers. In the recent conflict with Pakistan, the French origin Rafale fighter jet was extensively used to target terror infrastructure and military installations across the is looking to replenish its stocks and is placing orders for additional SCALP missiles that were used to effectively target airbases and terror camps in Pakistan. India will also acquire a number of the Meteor air-to-air missiles , which outmatch the Chinese and American origin equipment used by the Pakistan Air Force. There is a sense of urgency as Operation Sindoor has still not been called off.
News18
9 hours ago
- News18
Soundly Thrashed, Yet Pakistanis Convince Themselves Of Victory
Last Updated: Operation Sindoor was a resounding success for India, resulting in considerable damage to Pakistan's air defence system and air bases. Yet, Pakistan claims that it won Deceiving others is bad, but deceiving oneself is worse. Having acquired consummate skills in lying to the world about anything, Pakistan's immersion into mendacity is complete. It can no longer distinguish between fact and fiction—and between defeat and triumph. It got smacked in the four-day skirmish with India last month; there is a mountain of evidence (including videos by Pakistani social media) to prove that Operation Sindoor was a resounding success, resulting in considerable damage to Pakistan's air defence system and air bases. And Pakistan's reaction? It claimed that it won! Never was a lie as blatant. Six days after the cessation of hostilities, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement, 'This is a victory of the Armed Forces of Pakistan as well as the self-reliant, proud, and dignified Pakistani nation. The entire nation is standing by the armed forces like a wall made of lead." The Army chief, Gen Syed Asim Munir, was made Field Marshal. It is not just the Pakistani government and military that claimed to have emerged victorious in a skirmish in which they were soundly thrashed; people believed in the lie. A Gallup Pakistan survey conducted between May 11 and 15 showed that 96 per cent of more than 500 respondents believed Pakistan had won the conflict," Al Jazeera reported. 'Initial data and survey trends shared exclusively with Al Jazeera showed 82 per cent rated the military's performance as 'very good,' with fewer than 1 per cent expressing disapproval. Most significantly, 92 per cent said their opinion of the military improved as a result of the conflict." Pakistanis, however, don't need a Copperfield to create a new reality; they themselves do it—and fall in love with it. Conspicuously, the Pakistani people did not fall prey to the propaganda by Rawalpindi and Islamabad; they chose to ignore the zillion social media videos they themselves had made and circulated showing attacks on their air bases and other places. Rejecting the sanctity of sensory perception, commonsense, and reason, and refusing to accept the unmistakable weaknesses of their military, they found refuge in the Islamist fantasy of the invincibility of the ghazi, the jihadist soldier. It needs to be mentioned here that the Western mainstream media and the Trump administration underpinned Pakistanis' self-deception. It took foreign journalists several days to realize that India had licked Pakistan. So, the New York Times reported on May 14, 'Where India appears to have had a clear edge is in its targeting of Pakistan's military facilities and airfields, as the latter stretch of fighting shifted from symbolic strikes and shows of force to attacks on each other's defense capabilities." Yet, Pakistan keeps celebrating its 'victory.' Most Pakistanis genuinely believe that they have won the military conflict with India. Pakistan may be a military dictatorship, but its state, deep state, and society are symbiotically intertwined. It is a weird totalitarianism. George Orwell, Rightists' favourite Leftist, is often quoted in describing and explaining totalitarianism, the ruthless exercise of power, the abuse of language, and so on. But even his genius will not be able to fully explain the monstrosity that Pakistan is. O'brien, the party commissar who tricks the protagonist Winston of 1984 into believing in him, tells him, 'We control matter because we control the mind. Reality is inside the skull. You will learn by degrees, Winston. There is nothing that we could not do. Invisibility, levitation—anything. I could float off this floor like a soap bubble if I wished to. I do not wish to, because the Party does not wish it. You must get rid of those nineteenth-century ideas about the laws of nature. We make the laws of nature." Winston rightly finds all this utter nonsense; though not philosophically sophisticated, he even knows that there is a word to describe this stupid theory. O'brien helps him: 'I told you, Winston," he says, 'that metaphysics is not your strong point. The word you are trying to think of is solipsism. But you are mistaken. This is not solipsism." Then the commissar goes on to explain, 'The real power, the power we have to fight for night and day, is not power over things, but over men." He continues: 'Obedience is not enough… Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing." Orwell's narrative beautifully describes the evil of a communist state, but Pakistan is even worse. It doesn't have a party; it has an army—and it has radical Islam. Radical Islam tears human minds to pieces, bestialises hearts, and coarsens sensibilities. And it makes the adherents see what they want to see. So, they see defeat as victory. Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: June 08, 2025, 19:47 IST News opinion Opinion | Soundly Thrashed, Yet Pakistanis Convince Themselves Of Victory
