QUETTA: The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has strongly condemned the recent bombing and indiscriminate shelling by Pakistani forces in Barkhan, which resulted in the tragic loss of lives including women and innocent children. This heartbreaking incident reveals once again how state power is being used against ordinary civilians without accountability.
The Committee emphasized that the Barkhan tragedy is not an accident but part of a bitter pattern where entire areas are targeted as collective punishment. The practice of responding to one attack by punishing entire communities, resulting in deaths of women, children, and elderly, highlights the disproportionate use of force and blatant disregard for human life.
Among those killed in the incident were:
- Ali son of Sultan Umair (40 years)
- Bible daughter of Gulzar (30 years)
- Mir Jan son of Ali (2 years)
- Somri daughter of Bhangaan (35 years)
- Balach son of Sabzo (70 years)
- Shari (22 years)
- Rehman son of Balach (18 years)
- Naikho daughter of Jamalan (17 years)
- Allah Bakhsh son of Balach (6 years)
- Sado daughter of Balach (13 years)
- Hapo daughter of Balach (8 years)
- Mehrang son of Balach (2 years)
Additionally, Zar Bibi daughter of Sher (55 years), Hazar Khan son of Balach (9 years), and Israr daughter of Balach (15 years) were severely injured, clearly indicating the direct impact on civilians.
The Committee pointed out that such operations by state agencies reflect a dangerous tendency to punish entire societies in response to isolated incidents. Collective punishment violates international principles and fundamental human values. Such actions do not bring justice or peace but deepen hatred, mistrust, and deprivation.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee categorically rejects any justification of these losses of human life under any narrative, security pretext, or state interest. Such acts violate the spirit of the constitution, law, and basic principles of humanity.
The Committee expressed full solidarity with the victims and their families, sharing in their grief. They stressed that these incidents should not be confined to news reports alone but must be met with serious and effective responses.
They further raised pressing questions: How long will ordinary citizens continue to be used as fuel for the state’s narrative? How long will mothers keep carrying the bodies of their children? How long will homes continue to be plunged into darkness? These questions demand answers not only from the state but from every individual and institution that has so far remained criminally silent.
The Barkhan tragedy is a stark reminder that if a collective voice is not raised today, tomorrow the same tragedy may befall another village, another home and another family.
The Baloch nation must raise a united voice against this atrocity. The Committee calls on all conscious individuals to persistently raise their voices against the genocide of the Baloch people and to inform the world about ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan.
