Quetta, Sep 7 (IANS) Amid intensified checks and curbs on movement by Pakistani forces, several families have been displaced from Chur and Geshtardan areas in Balochistan’s Kech district, while residents of nearby settlements are also abandoning their ancestral homes, local media reported, citing sources.
Reports suggest the exact number of people displaced from Chur and Geshtardan in Zamuran tehsil of Kech was not immediately known.
Speaking to The Balochistan Post, a resident said that the number of checkpoints had increased significantly in recent months, making movement increasingly difficult.
“Previously, we were stopped every two kilometres, but over the past few months strict checks have been imposed at every kilometre,” he stated.
He further alleged that Pakistani forces were keeping records of food supplies in residents’ homes and barring people from travelling after dark, even when medical treatment was urgently needed.
The constant presence of drone surveillance over homes had further added to the pressure on families, he said.
According to residents, growing restrictions and constant surveillance have made it increasingly difficult for families to remain in Zamuran, forcing them to leave their ancestral homes and land. Despite raising the issue with local representatives, they said no meaningful intervention had followed.
The developments in Zamuran come as residents in other areas of Balochistan are reportedly being displaced ahead of anticipated military operations.
Meanwhile, Naseem Baloch, chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), has accused Pakistan of perpetuating decades of bloodshed, repression and grave human rights violations in Balochistan, and called for an end to what he described as the country’s “occupation” of the province.
He urged the international community to take note of the situation and act against the continued abuses by Pakistani forces.
Taking to X on Monday, Naseem said, “The international community cannot remain silent in the face of continued enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, repression, and other grave human rights violations. Pakistan must end its occupation of Balochistan. Otherwise, history will hold accountable those who remain silent, and those who enable these injustices.”
Furthermore, highlighting the escalating violence against civilians in Balochistan, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said that the “cycle of collective punishment and Baloch genocide” continues unabated with increasing intensity across the province.
“The state’s public threats to orchard owners in Mastung through the media, and the threats to destroy the orchards they have painstakingly cultivated, are a clear declaration that the policy of state repression and collective punishment in Balochistan is being accelerated to its most brutal extremes,” the BYC stated.
Condemning the “policy of collective punishment, the destruction of orchards, the intimidation of citizens, and the silencing of peaceful voices through force”, the BYC vowed to resist in every possible way against “state barbarism and oppression” in Balochistan by Pakistani forces.
–IANS
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