Pakistani Forces Kill Dozens of Civilians in Balochistan

The Military of Pakistan and the Pakistan Air Force killed more than 35 civilians in the Balochistan region during two separate incidents between August 10 and August 13, 2026. On August 10, security forces extrajudicially killed five Baloch youths in a fake encounter in the Cheedagi region of Panjgur district. The victims included Shoaib, who had been forcibly disappeared for over three years, and 23-year-old Peerjan Baloch, who had been missing for 66 days.

On August 13, the Pakistan Air Force conducted airstrikes in the Gidar area of the Surab district. Rights groups report the bombardment targeted residential areas, killing over 30 civilians, including women and children under ten years old. In response, residents and relatives of the deceased staged a sit-in protest in Surab's main square along the N-25 Quetta-Karachi highway, disrupting traffic.

Human rights organizations, including the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and the Baloch National Movement, condemned the actions as war crimes and part of a documented pattern of enforced disappearances and targeting of civilians. The Baloch National Movement urged the European Union to suspend Pakistan's Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus trade status, while other groups called for United Nations intervention and independent investigations into the killings.