Outcry in Baloch over killing of activist after forced disappearance

NEW DELHI: A massive outcry has erupted in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province following the disappearance and subsequent killing of a young Baloch activist, Zeeshan Ahmed , by military personnel.

Zeeshan had been campaigning for the safe return of his father, Zaheer, who was also forcibly disappeared by Pakistan's Frontier Corps in 2015. Zeeshan was 11 years old at that time, and his sister a 40-day-old newborn.

Zeeshan went missing on June 29 and his body was recovered the next day.

The incident is the latest in a series of "forced disappearances" that has long plagued Balochistan. According to a Human Rights Watch report, there are 8,463 documented cases of such disappearances between 2011 and 2024; the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances estimates at least 10,078 cases.

Zeeshan was abducted on June 29, around 8pm, after a football match. He was walking towards home when "two vehicles belonging to the state-backed death squad intercepted him", the Baloch Yakjehti Committee said. "Witnesses saw him beaten up, his hands bound and then thrown into one of the vehicles," the committee said.

That same night, family and residents of Panjgur blocked the CPEC road and began a sit-in, demanding Zeeshan's immediate release. By morning, they were mourning as Zeeshan's "bullet-riddled body was found dumped in Panjgur. His corpse bore clear signs of torture, bruises from sticks and blunt force, six bullets to the chest, and deep knife wounds", the committee said.