4 hours ago
Last Updated:May 17, 2025, 14:42 IST
CNN-News18 decodes Pakistan’s escalating proxy war in Balochistan, where military-backed death squads have been empowered to operate with impunity
Activist groups like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) have documented over 7,000 disappearances since 2004. (Photo: Reuters)
Following the March 2025 hijacking of the Jaffar Express by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Pakistan has intensified its reliance on state-supported militias to crush Baloch dissent. Intelligence sources say the Pakistan Army has upgraded the operational scope of its death squads—such as the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Aman Balochistan—while distancing itself from direct involvement to maintain plausible deniability and deflect international scrutiny.
The model, which mirrors Pakistan’s past strategy in Kashmir, is designed to avoid direct army casualties. Punjabi-dominated military and intelligence units, including the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), now provide arms and funds to tribal leaders like Shafiq Mengal of the Musallah Defah Tanzeem to target alleged BLA sympathisers.
These militias operate without restraint, engaging in extortion, kidnappings, and targeted killings across the province. Civilians are picked up by plainclothes agents in unmarked vehicles from their homes, public spaces, or protests. No formal arrests are recorded, and families are left without information.
Once abducted, victims are held in secret facilities—often at FC camps or ISI-controlled safe houses—where they face brutal torture, including electrocution and severe beatings. Some die during captivity; others are executed in staged encounters. Their mutilated bodies, bearing signs of bullet wounds, burns, and broken bones, are dumped in remote areas to spread fear across Baloch communities.
This “kill-and-dump" policy, say intelligence sources, is not new—but its scale is growing. Activist groups like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) have documented over 7,000 disappearances since 2004. In November 2024 alone, 98 new cases of enforced disappearances were reported. The first four months of 2025 recorded 51 extrajudicial killings—already approaching the 2024 total of 68. In April, 13 bodies were recovered, including those of individuals identified as Nizam and Abu Bakar.
Sources say Pakistan’s use of death squads is a calculated strategy—meant not only to crush dissent but also to shield its military from accountability for torture, killings, and other human rights abuses.
Location : First Published:News world Beaten, Burnt, Shot: Inside Pakistan Army’s Brutal Kill-And-Dump Policy In Balochistan | Exclusive
