Quetta, July 31 (IANS) At least four people were killed, and one critically injured after a Pakistani drone strike targeted a civilian house in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district on Friday, a leading human rights organisation stated.
Three of the deceased were identified as Irfan, Mir Gul, and Ali Gul, while the identity of the fourth victim has not yet been confirmed.
Citing sources, Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) further stated that a man identified as Munir was seriously injured in the attack. He was transferred to Karachi for emergency medical treatment, where his condition reportedly remains critical.
Condemning the incident in the Moola Manjalo area of Khuzdar, the BVJ described the attack as a “brutal act of state violence” and said that targeting civilians through drone strikes was “deeply alarming.”
According to the rights body, “this is neither the first such incident nor an isolated event, but part of a broader pattern of violence”, adding that previously reported drone strikes in the Moola and Zehri region of Balochistan also resulted in civilian deaths.
The BVJ called on international human rights organisations to take immediate notice of these reported incidents, conduct independent investigations, and help ensure accountability and justice for the victims and their families.
The latest incident comes amid intensified ground and aerial operations by Pakistani forces across several parts of Balochistan targeting civilian areas.
Earlier this week, shelling in the Wadh area of Khuzdar killed another person, local media reported, citing sources.
Military helicopters carried out strikes in multiple locations in the Surgarh area of Ornach in Khuzdar, with aerial surveillance and flights over the region. Ground and aerial operations were carried out in Wadh, Ornach and Zehri over the past few days, The Balochistan Post reported.
Last week, one person was killed, and several others, including women and children, were injured in Khuzdar during shelling by Pakistani forces,
Following the incident in the Drakhalaw-Gaslaiti area of Wadh in Khuzdar, local residents staged a sit-in protest on a highway, placing the body of the deceased, identified as Abdul Qadir, at the protest site.
Addressing the demonstration, protesters alleged that the shelling carried out by the Pakistani forces began on the morning of July 23 and reportedly hit a civilian area in Wadh locality.
Balochistan continues to reel under relentless atrocities by the Pakistani forces, marked by enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch civilians at an unprecedented level.
–IANS
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