QUETTA: Clashes between members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and police at a rally called to aid in the rescue of missing students resulted in over a dozen injuries, including six police officers, and 27 arrests, including five women.
Police attacked BYC supporters with battons and used tear gas, causing damage to more than a dozen police vehicles. During the altercations, gunfire was also reported. When police attempted to eject BYC supporters from the Red Zone area, where the demonstrators intended to hold a sit-in, fighting broke out.
For more than a week, BYC supporters staged a sit-in camp in the Sariab area to express their disapproval of Zaheer Baloch’s disappearance and the disappearance of other missing Baloch people.
Conflicts erupted on Thursday, though, as the demonstrators marched through a number of Quetta streets and attempted to enter the Red Zone to hold their sit-in.
Home Minister Ziaullah Langove said during a late-night news conference that Zaheer Zeb Baloch, who vanished a few days ago, is the brother of BLA commander Bashir Zeb Baloch, who was banned and engaged in the kidnapping of picnickers from the Shaban area and the Mach and Gwadar attacks. Furthermore, he asserted that Zaheer Zeb Baloch is not under the care of any government agency.
The family of Zaheer has been protesting on Sariab Road for several days, according to a video posted on social media by Dr. Mahrang Baloch, the Central Organiser of BYC, but the government has not responded. They then made the decision to head inside the Red Zone on Thursday.
“The demonstrators suffered serious injuries as a result of being attacked, fired upon, and subjected to a baton charge. Six female protestors have been detained and brought to the Civil Line Police Station, she added, adding that two of the injured are in serious condition at the trauma center of the Civil Hospital. From there, they were relocated to a site that is currently unknown.
