January 8, 2025
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
Two of eight bullet-riddled and tortured bodies discovered in Zhob and Musakhail districts have been identified as missing persons who vanished several months ago, highlighting renewed concerns over enforced disappearances in Balochistan.
The identifications come amid a sharp contrast between figures reported by rights groups and government panels—with activists documenting 1,237 cases in 2025 compared to just 56 new cases registered with the official Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) in 2025.
Ali Akbar and Juma Khan Marri, who had been missing for seven months and a year respectively, were among the eight bodies found in recent days, according to Nasrullah Baloch, chairperson of the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), an organization supporting families of enforced disappearance victims.
Government officials reported that four bodies were discovered in Musakhail on January 2, while four more were found in border areas between Zhob and Musakhail districts.
Families await return of bodies
“Ali Akbar, son of Ali Nawaz Samalani, whose body was found in Harnai, was allegedly detained and disappeared by security forces seven months ago,” Baloch told Voicepk. “The relatives of Juma Khan Marri have also confirmed that he was detained and taken away by forces from Harnai Bazaar a year ago.”
While families of both missing persons have identified the bodies, authorities have not yet handed them over to relatives, Baloch said.
Authorities tighten control over identification process
Baloch disclosed that authorities have tightened control over the identification and handover of unidentified bodies in recent months, creating additional anguish for grieving families.
“Previously, authorities used to share pictures of unidentified bodies in Balochistan with organizations and activists working with families of missing persons so they could help identify the deceased,” Baloch explained. “Now they have stopped sharing these pictures.”
The change has left families of missing persons unaware when their loved ones are found dead and unidentified. Previously, all unidentified bodies found in the province were brought to civil hospital in Quetta where families could visit to identify remains or provide DNA samples for matching.
“Now, even if a family identifies a body as belonging to their missing loved one, authorities delay handing it over on various pretexts,” Baloch said.
In June 2025, Baloch petitioned the Balochistan High Court along with family members for the handover of bodies of 17 missing persons. “The case is still pending with the high court, and the families of the 17 missing persons have not been handed the bodies of their loved ones till now,” he said.
Bodies had close range bullet wounds
Local residents informed the Zhob administration about four unknown bodies in an abandoned area near the border of the two districts on January 4. Levies Force personnel rushed to the scene, took custody of the bodies, and shifted them to a basic health unit in Kingri.
“All four unknown people were shot from close range, which caused their death on the spot,” said Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeeb Ullah Kakar. He confirmed that eight bodies have been found over three days. “Four other bullet-riddled bodies were found in an abandoned area of Musakhail on January 2.”
Spike in enforced disappearances
Speaking to Voicepk, Baloch said enforced disappearances witnessed a spike in 2024, claiming that 1,237 cases of missing persons were reported to his organization during the year. “Out of 1,237 cases, 312 missing persons were released and reunited with families, while bodies of 71 missing persons were found in the period,” Baloch said, adding that enforced disappearances of women in Balochistan have become alarming.
Sharp disparity in official gigures
However, VBMP’s figure of 1,237 enforced disappearances in Balochistan in 2025 contrasts sharply with numbers disclosed by the government’s Commission on Enforced Disappearances. According to COIED figures, the commission received only 56 new cases of enforced disappearances from Balochistan in 2025.
In 2025, COIED’s total number of reported new cases of missing persons nationwide came to 270—the lowest figure since the commission’s inception in 2011. The commission also resolved a record 997 cases of missing persons during the same period.
The number of pending cases with COIED as of December 31, 2025, stood at 1,524. The breakdown includes 205 cases from Punjab, 136 cases from Sindh, 971 cases from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 157 cases from Balochistan, 44 cases from Islamabad, and 10 cases from Azad Kashmir, according to figures disclosed by COIED in a January statement.