Geneva, Oct 1 (IANS) Several Baloch National Movement (BNM) members on Thursday raised serious concerns over the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan during the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, citing Pakistan Army airstrikes in Surab, Zehri and Chiltan and the hardships faced by Baloch women and girls across the province.
BNM member Mahrah Baloch drew the Council’s attention to the situation of Baloch women and girls, stating that “serious violations of their fundamental rights by Pakistani authorities continue, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killings, and restrictions on peaceful political expression.”
Addressing the session, Mahrah further said that Baloch women have played a prominent role in movements for justice and accountability, but many continue to bear the emotional, social, and economic consequences of the enforced disappearances and killings of their family members.
She stressed that their voices, rights, and participation in public life must be protected and respected.
Describing the pattern of conduct by Pakistani authorities as “state terrorism”, Mahra called on the Council to ensure independent monitoring of Balochistan, transparent investigations, and protection for those who peacefully document and challenge alleged abuses.
Speaking at the UNHRC session, BNM member Ahmed Baloch raised alarm over Pakistan’s use of airstrikes against civilians in Balochistan. He stated that a Pakistani Army airstrike in Surab on September 12, 2026, killed six civilians, including a woman and a two-year-old child, and injured nine others, most of them young children.
Ahmed Baloch said that Pakistan attributed the deaths to “concealed explosive devices”, while “photographs and footage from the area showed fragments of numbered munitions and damage consistent with aerial bombardment”.
According to Ahmed, the incident in Surab was not an isolated incident in Balochistan, alleging that the Pakistani Army had previously carried out airstrikes in Zehri and in the Chiltan area of Shaal in the province.
He stated that the increasing use of fighter jets, drones, and helicopter gunships in populated areas is putting thousands of Baloch lives at risk.
Ahmed Baloch called for an end to Pakistani airstrikes, international access to Balochistan, and recognition and support for the “Baloch nation’s right to self-determination”.
Last week, Naseem Baloch, chairman of the BNM, accused Pakistani authorities of subjecting successive generations of Baloch political activists, students, doctors, teachers, lawyers and ordinary citizens to imprisonment, enforced disappearance, exile and death.
Naseem made the remarks while addressing human rights defenders, representatives of different nations and organisations, members of the media and Baloch political activists during the 12th Balochistan International Conference in Geneva.
He said that decades-long efforts by Islamabad to suppress the “Baloch national question” involved military force, political engineering, enforced disappearances, imprisonment and control over Balochistan’s resources.
–IANS
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