'Balochistan Is Becoming Second Gaza': Baloch Activists Demand End to Rising Military Repression

Karachi: "Our words fail to express the depth of our grief. Instead, the dead bodies that protesters carried along the road are speaking for our grief. It is a village that has now been massacred," said Sabiha Baloch, a central leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), in a recent video.

On August 12, the BYC and other Baloch activists alleged that Pakistan's military forces had carried out airstrikes on Sorab (Surab) in Balochistan, killing more than 20 people and wounding an unknown number, including children. The Pakistani military has disputed this account. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) described the incident as a premature IED blast on the ground rather than an airstrike, claiming that "18 terrorists" and three civilians were killed. 

Curiously, a regime-friendly social media outlet acknowledged that there had been an airborne attack: “Security forces received credible intelligence that FAH terrorists had dumped a large quantity of explosives at a compound for preparing Vehicle-Borne IEDs. A swift quadcopter strike was carried out. The compound was completely destroyed…”

Two weeks on, the contradictory accounts of the Baloch groups and the Pakistani military have not yet been independently verified, amid internet and telecommunications disruptions in the area.

Balochistan is not the only region to have faced the brunt of military operations. More recently, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), once considered a government-friendly region, has also experienced state brutality and repression since late May 2026.

In Swat, attacks have reportedly continued from January through August this year. Whether in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Sindh, people are protesting across Pakistan, as political and social turmoil becomes increasingly prevalent.

Mohsin Dawar, chairman of the National Democratic Movement and a former member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, told The Wire that what he described as the “oppressed nations of Pakistan” – whether in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Balochistan – have faced a colonial approach to their suppression since the creation of Pakistan.

Why Kashmiris on PoK are protesting

PoK saw protests intensify in September 2023 over demands for fundamental economic and human rights. The agitation led to the formation of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC/JAAC) in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the region that Pakistani officials call "Azad Jammu and Kashmir". The committee brought together traders, transporters, lawyers, students and civil society groups.

Kashmiris have long demanded economic relief and have protested intermittently since 2023. The government's decision to raise electricity prices further fuelled public anger. On September 17, 2023, various local committees joined hands to form the JAAC to lead the movement.

Dawar said the Pakistani state had once used Kashmiris against India but had now turned against them.

Also read: Baloch Leader Sabiha Baloch Warns of 'Encounter Killing' Amid Rising Threats

In October 2025, the JAAC presented a 38-point charter of demands. Talks with government authorities subsequently broke down over a key demand: the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan.

Tensions resurfaced in 2026, with the JAAC announcing a long march and strike across PoK in early June. The protests have continued since then. 

Meanwhile, recent elections in PoK have also faced questions over their credibility, with several reports suggesting low voter turnout. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) traded accusations, with the PPP alleging irregularities. Local political parties also boycotted the polls.

The Wire tried to reach the JAAC and its activists for comment on the current situation. However, internet restrictions, along with the fact that detention and restrictions have been imposed on several activists, made this difficult. Some leaders, like Shaukat Nawaz Mir, are under house arrest, while others have gone underground or face 'Fourth Schedule' restrictions under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act.

Balochistan, the second Gaza

Speaking about the casualties in Sorab, Sabiha told The Wire that this was not the first time that the military had carried out airstrikes on Baloch areas such as Zaheeri, Khuzdar and elsewhere. She said drone strikes have also been carried out, while many incidents have gone unreported and failed to reach mainstream media or even social media.

Horrific images emerged from the Sorab incident, including one of a little girl carrying a toddler in her arms. Photo: Special arrangement.

Sabiha alleged that the military's August 12 attacks constituted "war crime”, adding that the Baloch people have witnessed similar actions for decades.

"The Pakistani military is turning Balochistan into a second Gaza, where no one is safe," she said.

Advocate Imran Baloch said the state is torturing ordinary Baloch people and has imposed curfews in cities, preventing people from leaving their homes after 8 or 9 pm. Roads have also been blocked, he said, making it difficult to transport food supplies from parts of Sindh into Balochistan, which has limited agricultural production.

Imran questioned why people would not go to the mountains and join the armed movement after witnessing horrific incidents such as the one in Sorab, where civilians were reportedly killed. Given such incidents, he said, Baloch people would no longer trust negotiations at the table.

'Media, human rights groups reproduce state narrative'

Dawar, responding to a question about the Pakistani government's restrictions on the international media, said if international outlets genuinely wanted to cover the issues facing oppressed communities, they could do so. At the same time, he argued that Pakistani media has become a tool for promoting the state's narrative.

"It has never been for the victims," he charged.

Also read: Sheema Kermani, Aurat March, Baloch Voices and the Shrinking Democratic Space in Pakistan's Sindh

Sabiha, visibly emotional, criticised Pakistan's mainstream media and human rights organisations, alleging that Pakistani media had described those killed in Sorab as terrorists.

"A Baloch toddler and a little girl are now terrorists to them," she said, "If you think Baloch are terrorists, then leave our land."

She called for a boycott of Pakistani media and those who, she alleged, had celebrated the killing of Baloch civilians under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

As for human rights organisations, she said she had personally contacted several prominent groups asking them to at least condemn the killings. They did not even post a tweet about the deaths, she said.

Sabiha described the Pakistani state as “anti-people," saying that the Baloch people had long raised concerns over enforced disappearances and basic human rights, but that after the Sorab incident, sentiment in favour of azadi, or freedom, has grown stronger.

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