Karachi: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has reported that four detained Baloch youths were killed during a Fake encounter in the Shah Latif Town area of Karachi.
According to CTD officials, security forces conducted a raid on a house in Shah Latif Town, during which an exchange of fire took place between police and suspected militants. The department claimed that four suspects were killed by the firing of their own associates during the shootout. Weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades, were reportedly recovered from the scene.
Authorities identified three of the deceased as Jalil, Niaz, and Hamdan.
However, reports indicate that the youths had already been in the custody of security forces prior to the incident. On January 5, Additional IG CTD Zulfiqar Lark and DIG CTD Ghulam Azfar Mahesar held a press conference in Karachi claiming that more than 2,000 kilograms of explosive material had been recovered, averting a major disaster in the city. They stated that three suspects had been arrested in connection with the recovery.
According to officials, the explosives were seized during an operation in the Baldia Raees Goth area of Karachi, where one suspect was arrested. Subsequent raids at six different locations in the city led to the arrest of two more individuals. The CTD claimed that initial investigations suggested the explosive material had been transported from Afghanistan through Balochistan to Karachi. More than 30 plastic drums filled with explosives and five metal gas cylinders were reportedly recovered.
The CTD’s operations have frequently drawn scrutiny, with several past cases in which individuals previously reported as forcibly disappeared were later killed in alleged encounters and presented as militants.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has issued statements following each reported extrajudicial killing, describing the incidents as part of what it terms “Baloch genocide.” The organization says that many of the youths were forcibly disappeared by state forces in front of their families and later killed in what it calls staged or fake encounters.
According to BYC, families often register the names of the disappeared individuals with the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) and attempt to file First Information Reports (FIRs) against state forces. However, the organization claims that police stations frequently refuse to register cases against security personnel. It further alleges that days after such disappearances, the individuals are killed in alleged encounters and presented as militants.
In a previous case in Turbat, Balach Baloch was reportedly killed while in custody, and his body was later found dumped in a deserted area.
Similar concerns have been raised in the case of Malang Baloch, a 20-year-old labourer and son of Zahid Nadeem, who was reportedly forcibly disappeared from the Washbodh area of Panjgur and later extrajudicially killed. Human rights advocates have described his killing as a violation of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the inherent right to life and prohibits arbitrary deprivation of life.
In another reported case, Balach Khalid, who had previously been subjected to enforced disappearance, was extrajudicially killed by armed groups described by activists as state-backed death squads.
Similarly, Jasim Jan, a labourer and resident of Panjgur, who had earlier been forcibly disappeared, was reportedly found dead in the Washbodh area of Panjgur, with his body bearing signs of mutilation.
Rights organizations say these cases reflect what they describe as a broader pattern of enforced disappearances followed by alleged extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. Pakistani authorities have not issued detailed responses to these specific allegations beyond official statements issued in individual cases.
