A Pakistani soldier and an intelligence officer have been detained during an armed ambush on a military unit in Balochistan’s Harnai district on Saturday, local sources said, as armed attacks continued to be reported in other parts of the region. The detained soldier was identified as Abdul Haleem, son of Shafi Muhammad, while the identity of the intelligence official was not immediately confirmed, according to The Balochistan Post.
Authorities have not issued a statement regarding the incident, and no group has claimed responsibility. Similar incidents have previously been claimed by Baloch armed groups, which are fighting for an independent Balochistan.
Earlier this year, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said it had captured Pakistani military personnel in Khuzdar’s Ornach area during the second phase of “Operation Herof,” later stating that seven were killed after a proposed prisoner exchange failed to materialise.
In Zamuran’s Kunnardan and Nawano areas, two vehicles transporting supplies for Pakistani forces were intercepted and later set on fire along with rations on Saturday. In a separate attack, armed fighters reportedly seized control of the Shoran check post of the Levies force in Jhal Magsi and confiscated weapons and a motorcycle.
In Kech district’s Turbat, a bomb disposal team of the Frontier Corps was targeted in a blast while conducting routine road checks in the Nodiz area, official sources said, adding that Pakistani forces suffered losses without providing casualty figures.
Meanwhile, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said two youths who were forcibly disappeared earlier this month by Pakistani forces were killed in Balochistan’s Panjgur district, which it described as part of a pattern of “staged encounters.”
In a statement, the group said Hatim Baloch, a 17-year-old student and resident of Shapatan in Panjgur, was forcibly disappeared by Frontier Corps personnel from Legork in Parom on April 5, 2026. According to the BYC, he remained in custody for several days, during which he was subjected to physical and psychological torture, before his bullet-riddled and mutilated body was later dumped in a deserted area.
“The state kills people and labels it an encounter in order to conceal its own atrocities. When Hatim Baloch was killed following his enforced disappearance, his merciless murder was sought to be legitimised with the claim that he was killed in an exchange of fire with the forces. But the reality is the complete opposite.”
The group said Hatim’s case had already been registered as an enforced disappearance prior to his death. The BYC further said that 18-year-old Marwan, son of Hamza Baloch and also a resident of Shapatan, was among four individuals killed in what it described as a “staged encounter” in Panjgur.
According to the statement, the bodies of the four were brought to a hospital and presented as casualties of a combat exchange, while the group alleged they had previously been forcibly disappeared. The BYC described the incidents as part of what it called a systematic pattern of “Baloch genocide” and “staged encounters” in Balochistan, claiming that forcibly disappeared individuals are later killed and presented as militants.
It is alleged that in Panjgur alone, around 40 Baloch youths have been killed in the past three months, with their mutilated bodies discarded in different areas. “Balochistan is not merely a site of human rights violations, but it has been turned into a slaughterhouse for Baloch youth. Precious human lives are being taken on a daily basis without any legal process,” the BYC added.
The group also accused state institutions, including the judiciary, of silence and complicity, and criticised national and international human rights organisations for what it described as inaction. It called for independent investigations into enforced disappearances and alleged extrajudicial killings, the immediate production of missing persons before courts, and accountability for those responsible.
Two youths were allegedly forcibly disappeared in Balochistan’s Gwadar and in Quetta, while four previously missing individuals were released as a protest camp by families of missing persons in Quetta entered its 6,138th day on Saturday.
In Gwadar’s Jiwani area, 19-year-old Ali Asghar, son of Noor Muhammad, a fisherman and resident of Panwan, was taken from his home at around 11:00pm on April 16 by Pakistani forces and personnel of Military Intelligence, his family members said, adding that he has remained missing since.
In a separate raid, 19-year-old Mahraj, son of Allah Bakhsh, a student and resident of Khuzdar, was reportedly detained near Green Plaza, close to Children’s Hospital in Quetta, at 8PM on April 12, by personnel of the Counter Terrorism Department, after which he was disappeared.
In a related development, four individuals who had previously been missing were released. Niaz Ahmed, son of Ayaz, a resident of Kharan who had been detained on April 12, was released in Kharan on April 16. Asif, son of Isa Baloch, a resident of Jiwani in Gwadar who had been missing since January 6, 2026, was released on April 11.
Ameer, son of Jasim Dad, a resident of Mand in Kech district who had been disappeared on December 19, 2025, was released in Gwadar on April 10. Similarly, Ilyas, son of Miadad, a resident of Gokdan in Turbat, Kech district, who had been disappeared on April 6, 2026, was released from FC Camp D Baloch in Turbat on April 12.
