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Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Father kills daughter, nephew in latest ‘honor killing' case in Pakistan's Balochistan
QUETTA, Pakistan: A father has shot and killed his teenage daughter and nephew in a so-called 'honor killing' in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, police said on Wednesday, days after a similar killing sparked outrage across the country. The incident took place Tuesday evening in the Lashar Abad area along Quetta's Qambrani Road, and came just days after a viral video showed a young couple being executed in a separate honor killing in Balochistan's Digari area in Quetta district. That case, involving a tribal jirga ordering the deaths of a woman and man over an alleged illicit relationship, has drawn widespread condemnation and renewed calls for legal reform. According to Abdul Majeed, the Station House Officer of Kechi Baig Police Station, the latest victims were identified as Ghulam Qadir, 19, and Nazneen, 18. 'The slain man and woman were cousins and the father, named Abdul Latif, shot and killed both his daughter and nephew inside his house,' Majeed told Arab News. 'The girl was from the Lehri tribe and the boy hailed from the Rind tribe.' The officer said the killings were motivated by accusations of an 'illicit relationship' between the pair, adding that the case had been handed over to the Serious Crime Investigation Wing (SCIW) and a search was underway for the father, who was on the run. The family of the male victim had retrieved his body for burial, but no one from the girl's family had come forward to claim her, Majeed added. Rights groups say honor killings - the murder of individuals, often women, by relatives for allegedly tarnishing family 'honor' - remain widespread in Pakistan, particularly in tribal and rural regions. Activists estimate as many as 1,000 deaths a year in the name of so-called honor. Although Pakistan passed a landmark law in 2016 to close loopholes that once allowed families to 'forgive' perpetrators, conviction rates remain extremely low, often below 2 percent, according to UN estimates. The recent video from Balochistan, showing the execution-style killing of a couple in the Digari area in Quetta district, reignited public debate over jirga justice and the state's failure to prevent such crimes. Police said 11 suspects had been arrested in the Digari case, including two men named in the first information report (FIR) filed by police after the killing. That attack, caught on video, appeared to show the victims being shot in a mountainous area on the orders of a tribal council.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Balochistan says provincial action plan against separatists ready amid spike in violence
ISLAMABAD: Amid a renewed wave of separatist violence in Balochistan, Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said Wednesday a provincial action plan for peace had been formulated, as he warned of the evolving and asymmetric nature of the security threat facing the province. The statement came during the 16th National Workshop on Balochistan in Quetta, where Bugti addressed senior civil and military participants. His remarks followed a recent spike in attacks by ethnic Baloch insurgents, who have escalated their decades-long campaign by launching coordinated strikes on security forces, government officials and non-local workers. The unrest continues despite repeated crackdowns and military operations, complicating stability efforts in a province critical to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). 'A provincial action plan for peace in Balochistan has been formed,' Bugti was quoted in an official statement circulated after the event. 'Our response mechanisms have been strengthened, and terrorists cannot hold even an inch of ground permanently.' While acknowledging that the province has long suffered from misgovernance and uneven development, Bugti rejected that unemployment and underdevelopment alone were driving unrest. 'Those who fight the state do so not because of jobs or education but because they dream of a separate state based on Baloch identity,' he continued. 'This is an intelligence-driven drone war against Pakistan.' He added that the insurgents were attempting to push the Baloch people into an unwinnable conflict. 'The Baloch nation is being dragged into a futile war,' he said, warning that acts of violence, whether in the name of nationalism or religion, would be treated the same. 'We will embrace those disillusioned with the state and address their grievances, but those who kill innocents and want to break the country cannot be engaged outside the constitution,' he added. The chief minister described the provincial security landscape as increasingly opaque, saying Pakistani forces were operating in 'grey zones' where it was difficult 'to distinguish between friend and foe.' On the issue of enforced disappearances, a deeply contentious point in Balochistan's political discourse, Bugti said that comprehensive legislation had already been passed. Families of missing persons and human rights groups accuse state institutions of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. Pakistani authorities have frequently rejected these claims, calling them 'baseless allegations.' Reiterating that the fight against separatist violence is not just the state's burden but 'a war that concerns every Pakistani,' Bugti said the state would remain firm against any attempt to destabilize the province.
Arab News
2 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Last train to Zhob: Balochistan's historic narrow-gauge railway fades into silence
BOSTAN: Until four decades ago, the Bostan Junction Railway Station was a place of industry and movement: steam whistles echoed in the mountain air, porters loaded freight and children raced along its narrow-gauge tracks. Located about 30 kilometers north of Quetta in the Takatu mountain range, Bostan once linked Pakistan's rugged west to a vast colonial network of steel and steam. Today, the station lies silent. Carriages rust in the sun. Tracks are buried beneath dust and weeds. The station buildings, once bustling with workers and traders, are mostly empty. Built under British rule, the Bostan-Zhob narrow-gauge line was commissioned in 1919 and, by 1929, stretched 294 kilometers to the border town of Zhob. It wound through ten remote stations, including Kan Mehtarzai, the highest railway station in Pakistan at 2,224 meters above sea level. While the rest of the subcontinent was dominated by broad-gauge lines, Balochistan's unforgiving mountainous terrain required something lighter, cheaper and more flexible. Narrow-gauge rail was the solution — and Bostan became its hub. 'The first 74.7 kilometers were completed in January 1921, connecting Bostan with Hindubagh [now Muslim Bagh],' said Aminullah Khan, the current Station Master at Bostan Junction. 'There used to be large offices here with loading and unloading operations. Nearly 500 to 1,000 railway employees worked here in different departments, but today, only four employees work at this station and the rest of the offices are closed.' The line carried both freight and passengers. British authorities used it to transport chromite ore from the mines in Hindubagh to Bostan, where it was transferred to broad-gauge trains for shipment to Karachi via Quetta. The Bostan-Zhob line continued operating well after Pakistan's independence in 1947 but was eventually shut down in 1985. Pakistan Railways cited mounting financial losses and the difficulty of maintaining the remote infrastructure. 'It was consistently running at a loss,' said Dr. Irfan Ahmed Baig, a Quetta-based academic and author of Half-Century Rail. 'There are even records that for one or two years, not a single ticket was sold. People tore up the tracks and took away everything, which faded the remains of the historical track.' Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Railways in Quetta, Imran Hayat, confirmed the line's decline. 'With the government's policy of promoting roads more than the Railways, the track slowly deteriorated and was finally closed on May 29, 1985,' he said. 'The population of Balochistan province has always been scant, and it cannot be said with clarity that it was a well-patronized passenger route for Railways.' He added that some rolling stock was deliberately left behind at Bostan at the community's request. But over the years, theft and scavenging have stripped away much of what remained. 'The stock has slowly been cannibalized by the locals, and theft of metal is a routine practice,' Hayat said. 'The remaining stock available at Bostan Railway Station is in very bad shape and of no use other than scrap value. The local population has no plan for the restoration of the stock, neither have they ever requested nor shown interest in this regard.' 'DISAPPEAR FROM HISTORY' Others see it differently. Kaleemullah Kakar, a 45-year-old tribal elder who led a protest in 2023 against the auction of the remaining railway assets, remembers when the station was a part of everyday life. 'I still remember when our school ended, we spent our childhood right on this platform,' he said. 'I remember clearly the coal engines on those tracks, just like I can see you now.' Kakar said over 100 narrow-gauge coaches and several steam engines were removed from Bostan and relocated to major cities. 'Out of nearly 150 historical bogies, Pakistan Railways sold 100 bogies and eight steam engines were taken away and are now standing outside Lahore, Karachi and Quetta Railway Stations,' he said. 'Nothing was left for Bostan.' Only about one kilometer of track remains today. Six damaged carriages sit in the station yard. The shed that once housed locomotives is now an empty shell. Still, some believe the railway's legacy, and what little is left of it, deserves to be preserved. 'We deeply wish for the narrow-gauge service to resume because it gave recognition to this town,' said Muhammad Naseem Khan Nasir, a local politician and tribal elder. 'If these remnants vanish, nothing will be left of Bostan. Even its name will disappear from history.'
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
Pakistan police say tribal chief among 14 arrested over 'honour killing'
QUETTA, Pakistan, July 21 (Reuters) - Police in southwestern Pakistan have arrested 14 suspects over the so-called honour killing of a couple accused of having an affair, including a local tribal chief who ordered their deaths, officials said on Monday. The killings in Pakistan's Balochistan province last month came to attention after a video showing the couple being shot went viral on social media. The man who shot and killed the woman was her brother, acting on behalf of her family and tribe, provincial police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters in an update on the case. The chief of the tribe, Sher Baz Satakzai, had ordered the killing, he said. The tribal chief was among those detained, provincial chief minister Sarfraz Bugti told a news conference in Quetta, the provincial capital. "We will make sure that they all will be prosecuted," he said. It was unclear if the brother was among those detained. The man and woman, accused of having an affair out of wedlock, both had several children from separate marriages, Bugti said. Authorities had initially said the couple were killed for marrying against the wishes of their families. "No one has a right, no matter what, to kill someone in such a painful and disgusting way, and then video shoot it," said Bugti. "It is a crime. It is a murder." The video that was circulating widely on social media on Sunday shows a man shooting the woman in the back at close range, and later a bloodied man lying close to the woman's body. Men are then shown shooting at both the bodies. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. A local court on Monday ordered police to exhume the bodies for an autopsy. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that in 2024, there were at least 405 "honour killings", criticising the authorities for failing to stamp out these crimes. Most victims are women, and the killings are usually carried out by relatives professing to defend their family's reputation, human rights groups say.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Pakistan police say woman shot seven, man nine times in ‘honor killing' incident
QUETTA: The woman victim of the Balochistan 'honor killing' incident was shot seven times while the male victim received nine bullet injuries, Pakistan police confirmed after conducting a post-mortem examination of the slain individuals this week. The killings in the southwestern Balochistan province, which took place in June, made headlines and triggered outrage in Pakistan after a video showing the couple being shot went viral online last week. The woman, identified by police as Bano Bibi Satakzai and the man, Ehsan Ullah Sumalani, were both shot dead in the Dagari area located on the outskirts of Quetta. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti told reporters on Monday that 12 suspects have been arrested in connection with the violence, including a tribal leader, who allegedly ordered the couple to be shot. Bugti hinted during the press conference, avoiding to share details, that both victims were allegedly having an extramarital affair. Dr. Ayesha Faiz, a Balochistan Police surgeon, told Arab News that Satakzai and Sumalani were killed on June 4 and buried in different graveyards in Dagari. 'After the postmortem, it was found that Bano Bibi had received seven bullet injuries on her head, abdomen and chest, and Ehsan Ullah received nine bullets on his chest and abdomen,' Faiz said. Syed Saboor Agha, head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Wing (SCIW) leading the probe, said police have taken nine other people into custody on suspicion of hiding the crime from authorities. He confirmed the victims were involved in an extramarital affair. 'The prime accused in this case is Jalal, (brother) of murdered Bano Bibi who is still undercover and raids are being conducted to arrest him,' Agha said. 'Because his arrest will likely uncover further details as he was the woman's brother, who along with his maternal uncle, opened fire at them.' So-called honor killings are common in Pakistan, where family members and relatives sometimes kill women and men who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry of their own choice. Yasmeen Mughal, the provincial coordinator for the Aurat Foundation, a non-profit that monitors violence against women and cases of honor killings in Pakistan, said 212 people have been killed in so-called honor cases in Balochistan in the last five years. Of these, she said 33 women were killed last year. Raza Rumi, a Pakistani policy analyst, journalist and author who is currently a lecturer at The City University of New York, said tribal councils or jirgas have no legal or moral authority to decide matters involving human life. 'Honor killings are criminal acts, not cultural practices,' Rumi said. 'Allowing jirgas to decide such cases legitimizes violence and undermines the constitution and rule of law.' Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the incident on Monday, tasking Bugti to hold an investigation and punish those behind the killings. 'No one is above the law and no one can be allowed to take the law into their own hands,' Sharif said. 'All legal steps should be taken to bring the suspects to justice.'
