Pakistani military drone strike kills one labourer, injures six in Balochistan

Quetta: At least one person was killed and six others injured after Pakistani military carried out a drone strike on labourers working in the fields in the Dast Cheeri Kunjati area of Balochistan’s Kech district, a leading human rights organisation stated on Monday.

Condemning the attack, human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) described it as “state terrorism,” saying the incident highlighted the grave situation of danger and insecurity faced by ordinary citizens in Balochistan.

The deceased was identified as Hafiz Khan, while the injured included Hakim, Izzat, Gul Alam, Ihsanullah, Muhammad Alam, and Rahmatullah - all residents of Quetta.

The BYC said that the labourers had no connection to any conflict and were working in the fields to support their families and provide for their children.

It further noted that the attack had robbed one family of its breadwinner and left several others facing distress and uncertainty.

“Life for ordinary citizens in Balochistan is already beset with countless hardships, but when labourers working in the fields, breadwinners toiling for their homes, and ordinary people going about their daily lives are not safe from the threat of attacks, the question arises: who should the public turn to for the protection of their lives? Where should the people of Balochistan go when even staying in their homes is not free from fear, and stepping out to earn a living for their children proves deadly?” the BYC asked.

The rights body stressed that the state's fundamental responsibility is to protect citizens' lives and property and provide them with a secure environment, not to force them to live under the shadow of fear, insecurity, and constant threats.

“It is utterly unacceptable for the government to shift the burden of its political failures and security policies onto ordinary citizens, labourers, and farmers,” the BYC stated.

On Sunday, the activists of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) held an awareness campaign in Germany's Trier to draw global attention to human rights abuses by Pakistani forces in Balochistan, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and forced displacement of civilians.

According to the BNM, the participants carried portraits of the forcibly disappeared, distributed leaflets and briefed passers-by on the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan.

Citing reports, the speakers at the campaign said that around 30,000 residents of the Shor Parod region in Balochistan’s Kalat district have been ordered by the Pakistani authorities to vacate their homes by October 30. They alleged that families who had lived in the region for generations were being forced to move into tents.

The BNM called on the United Nations, the European Union and the international community to investigate these human rights violations, hold Pakistan accountable and take urgent action to stop the forced displacement of people from Shor Parod and other parts of Balochistan.

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