21-year-old Baloch student becomes another victim of extrajudicial killing by Pakistani forces

"Tragically, today morning, around 9:00 a.m., the family received devastating news: Zeeshan's bullet-riddled body was discovered near Surdu Ghareeb Nawaz Hotel. His body bore multiple gunshot wounds," read a statement issued by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

Quetta: Zeeshan Baloch, a 21-year-old student and resident of Khudabadan, Panjgur in Balochistan, was extra-judicially killed on Monday after his enforced disappearance by a “Pakistan-backed death squad,” according to a human rights organisation.

“Tragically, today morning, around 9:00 a.m., the family received devastating news: Zeeshan’s bullet-riddled body was discovered near Surdu Ghareeb Nawaz Hotel. His body bore multiple gunshot wounds,” read a statement issued by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

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The BYC asserted that the “targeted killing of Zeeshan, who had already endured the trauma of growing up without his father due to enforced disappearance, illustrates the multigenerational cycle of violence and repression inflicted on Baloch families by Pakistani authorities.”

Earlier in the day, several human rights organisations called for the immediate release of Zeeshan after his abduction on Sunday late evening from Football Chowk, Panjgur.

They said that Zeeshan was the victim of enforced disappearance by a “state-backed death squad.”

In the hours following Zeeshan’s abduction, his family staged a sit-in protest across the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) road in Panjgur, demanding his immediate release and raising urgent alarm over his safety.

Zeeshan was the son of Zaheer Ahmed, who himself has been forcibly disappeared since April 13, 2015, and remains missing until now.

“The family had already been receiving threats for their peaceful campaign to recover their father. Now, the very son who fought for his father’s freedom has become the next target,” the BYC said.

Another human rights body, Paank, had also raised its voice in support of Zeeshan, who it said had been actively involved in the campaign for his father’s safe release and notably participated in the long march to Islamabad, calling attention to the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.

Paank held the Pakistan Army and its backed death squads responsible for the unlawful abduction and reiterated its call on international human rights bodies to take immediate action against the ongoing atrocities in Balochistan.