Pakistan charges Baloch activist with ‘terrorism'
QUETTA: Pakistan on Sunday charged a Baloch rights activist with terrorism, sedition and murder after she led a demonstration which ended in the death of three protesters, according to police documents.
Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan's most prominent human rights advocates, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it has been targeted by Islamabad with harassment and extrajudicial killings.
Pakistan's military and the central government in Islamabad strongly refute her allegations.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
On Friday, she and other activists took part in a sit-in protest outside the University of Balochistan in the provincial capital of Quetta.
They demanded the release of members of their support group, whom they allege had been detained by security agencies.
Police launched a pre-dawn raid on Saturday, arresting Baloch and other activists, during which at least three protesters died. Both sides blamed each other for the deaths.
Mary Lawlor, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said she was 'very concerned' at Baloch's arrest.
Baloch and other protesters have been charged with terrorism, sedition and murder, according to the police charge sheet seen by AFP.
Hamza Shafqaat, a senior administrative official in Quetta, said that Baloch and other activists were held under public order laws.
Her lawyer, Imran Baloch, confirmed she was detained in a jail in Quetta.
Baloch was barred from traveling to the United States last year to attend a TIME magazine awards gala of 'rising leaders.'
Protests among the Baloch are often led by women. Baloch, now in her 30s, began her activist career aged 16 when her father went missing in what his supporters said was an alleged 'enforced disappearance.' His body was found two years later.
Earlier in March, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) — which accuses outsiders of plundering the province's natural resources — launched a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Arab News
Ukraine says Russia launched 479 drones in the war's biggest overnight drone bombardment
KYIV, Ukraine: Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the war 's biggest overnight drone bombardment, the Ukrainian air force said Monday. Apart from drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine. Ukraine's air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight, an air force statement said, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target. It was not possible to independently verify the claim. Russia's aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, because drones are harder to spot in the dark. Russia has relentlessly battered civilian areas of Ukraine with Shahed drones during the more than 3-year war. The attacks have killed more that 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. Russia says it targets only military targets.
Arab News
15 hours ago
- Arab News
Explosion reported at US air base in Japan
TOKYO: An explosion occurred at a Japanese military facility inside a US air base in Okinawa, officials told AFP, with local media reporting non-life-threatening injuries. A defense ministry spokesman said they had received reports of an explosion at the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) facility inside Kadena Air Base in the southern Japanese region. Jiji Press and other local media said four injuries had been reported but none were life-threatening. Public broadcaster NHK said, citing unnamed defense ministry sources, that the explosion may have occurred at a temporary storage site for unexploded bombs, with officials trying to confirm the situation. 'We've heard there was an explosion at the SDF facility and also heard there were injuries but we don't have further details,' Yuta Matsuda, a local official of Yomitan village in Okinawa, told AFP.
Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Saudi Gazette
Colombia presidential hopeful shot in head at rally
BOGOTA — A Colombian presidential candidate is in a critical condition after he was shot three times — reportedly twice in the head — at a campaign event in the capital, Bogotá. Miguel Uribe Turbay, a 39-year-old senator, was attacked while addressing supporters in a park on Saturday. Police arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene, the attorney general's office said. Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, called on the nation to pray for his survival. "Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him," she said. Uribe's Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, calling it a threat to "democracy and freedom in Colombia". Phone footage shared online appears to show the moment when he was shot in the head mid-speech, prompting those gathered to flee in panic. Paramedics said he had been shot in the knee and twice in the head, AFP news agency reported. He was airlifted to a hospital where supporters gathered to hold underwent surgery and was in the first critical hours of recovery, Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said late on Saturday 15-year-old suspect was shot in the leg while police and security officers pursued him after the attack, according to local was arrested carrying a "9mm Glock-type firearm", a statement from the attorney general's office said. An investigation is under government of left-wing President Gustavo Petro said it "categorically" condemned the attack as an "act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy".Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the "vile attack" and offered a 3bn peso ($730,000; £540,000) reward for information about who may be behind Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the shooting as a "direct threat to democracy".He blamed the attack, without providing examples, on "violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government". The suspect's motivation is still later urged Colombians to wish Uribe well, on what he described as a "day of pain", in a video address to the is a "political difference" between Uribe and the government, but it is "only political", he said."What matters most today is that all Colombians focus with the energy of our hearts, with our will to live... on ensuring that Dr Miguel Uribe stays alive," he a right-wing critic of Petro, announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election in October. He has been a senator since is from a prominent political family in Colombia, with links to the country's Liberal Party. His father was a union leader and mother was Diana Turbay, a journalist who was killed in 1991 in a rescue attempt after she had been kidnapped by the Medellin drugs cartel run at the time by Pablo Escobar. — BBC
