In a troubling development, the Baloch National Movement’s spokesperson has raised alarm over the ongoing military operations in the Bolan, Sabi, and Harnai regions of Pak-occupied-Balochistan. Expressing deep concern, the spokesperson criticized the international community’s silence, as it is providing Pakistan with the opportunity to intensify military aggression in the resource-rich region.
The military has sealed off entry and exit routes of regions through shelling and bombing, leading to the confinement of civilian population. The complete restriction on the movement of the trapped population is extremely challenging as it becomes an obstacle in obtaining accurate information about the ground reality.
Indiscriminate shelling and bombing have inflicted severe harm on the civilian population, disrupting their daily lives. The hardships faced by those trapped, including limited access to food, medical treatment, and the fate of individuals subjected to enforced disappearances hangs in limbo.
Ongoing military operations
One of the deeply troubling incidents highlighted by the spokesperson involves the Army’s siege of the house of Alian in the Shaban region, connected to Sabi. The Army has detained women and children, subjecting them to forced disappearances. Similarly, in the Dhadar region, the Army has taken into custody herdsman ‘Malay’ and the women and children of his relatives and subjecting them to enforced disappearances.
The ongoing military operations, which have persisted for the past ten days, paint a grim picture of human tragedies. Women are being used as human shields, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis as a result of the Pak Army’s brutality during the nine-day military onslaught. Additionally, the depletion of food reserves and the lack of medical treatment for the injured are adding to the pain of the affected Baloch population.
The Baloch National Movement spokesperson underscored that the people in Bolan and surrounding areas, primarily engaged in agriculture and livestock, are now facing further deprivation as the Army has taken control of their livestock, their source of livelihood.
This escalation of Army’s aggression against the Baloch nation is nothing less than war crimes by Pakistan Army, this is a tactic to discourage Baloch resistance and movements for independence. The Baloch community, for decades, has faced violence and atrocities by the Pak Army.
Not only have they been abducted at gunpoint, but they have also been tortured and killed under Pakistani ‘establishment’s kill-and-dump policy. The international community should break its silence and address the humanitarian catastrophe in Pak-occupied-Balochistan.