Quetta, April 18 Naseem Baloch, chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), on Saturday asserted that the brutal killing of 12 members of a single family in Balochistan’s Barkhan district reflects the "ongoing and unchecked" violence inflicted by the Pakistani military on innocent Baloch civilians.
The remarks came after as many as 12 civilians, including women and children, were killed and three others severely injured in Barkhan during Pakistani military bombardment and shelling in the area on April 13, triggering widespread outrage.
Condemning the killings, Naseem said, “This is not an isolated incident; rather, it is part of the systematic oppression that the Baloch nation has endured for the past seventy-eight years. It is a clear act of state terrorism in which unarmed civilians were deliberately targetted and killed.”
He further said that a nomadic Marri family, travelling during migration along the Nahar Kot Road in the region, was directly fired upon by Pakistani forces.
“They were vulnerable and impoverished nomads, and their only ‘crime’ was their identity,” Naseem said.
Describing the attack as a tragic episode of the ongoing Baloch genocide, he said, “This incident will become a permanent part of the Baloch collective memory and will stand as a reckoning for the occupier."
The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) expressed grave concern over the situation in Balochistan, demanding urgent international intervention.
Strongly criticising the bombardment and indiscriminate shelling carried out by Pakistani security forces in Barkhan, the rights body said, “The continued use of force against civilians is a pattern of abuse that can no longer be ignored."
The HRCB documented that between January 2025 and February 2026, 83 civilians were killed in strikes and indiscriminate firing by security forces, reflecting “a persistent and deeply alarming pattern of violence."
The rights body stated that Pakistani authorities must be held accountable for decades of violations which have repeatedly cost civilian lives and stripped people of their basic rights.
“Ongoing silence and inaction only enable these abuses, leaving Baloch civilians to face violence, fear, and lasting trauma without protection,” it noted.
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