Islamabad, 20 April (H.S.):
In a grim escalation of unrest in Pakistan's volatile Balochistan province, three police personnel lost their lives in separate clashes with outlaws and insurgents over the past 24 hours, with several others wounded, authorities confirmed today.
Security forces have cordoned off the affected areas and launched extensive search operations to apprehend the perpetrators. Meanwhile, a protracted hunger strike by ordinary citizens outside the Quetta Press Club entered its 6,139th day, demanding transparency on long-standing cases of enforced disappearances by the state.
Reports from Dunya News Channel and The Balochistan Post detail Sunday's brazen assault in Khuzdar city, where armed thugs opened fire on a police team responding to a solar panel theft complaint in the Bagbana sub-tehsil. The attack claimed the lives of Head Constable Samiullah and Woman Constable Malik Naz, while Station House Officer Ibrahim Sheikh and Constable Najibullah sustained critical injuries and were rushed to Khuzdar Civil Hospital.
In a parallel incident, a ferocious firefight erupted in Mastung district's Dasht Kambela area, felling Head Constable Rahmatullah Khilji and injuring six more policemen. Pakistani Army units, encircling the plains, faced stiff resistance from insurgents who also targeted a security camp in Dasht Kund Musuri, underscoring the province's deepening insurgency.
Voices from the Void: Protest for the Missing
The Quetta vigil, spearheaded by the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), amplified with the arrival of Jameel Baloch, brother of abducted student Sohail Ahmed Baloch (alias Lal Mohammad) and his friend Fasihullah (son of Syed Abdul Rauf Shah). The duo, BS Pakistan Studies scholars at Balochistan University, vanished from their hostel on November 1, 2021. Jameel urged immediate disclosure of their fates amid a swelling chorus against state abductions.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
