Azerbaijan president calls for joint ventures with Pakistan to expand strategic partnership

QUETTA: Pakistan on Sunday charged a Baloch rights activist with terrorism, sedition and murder after she led a demonstration which ended in the death of three protesters, according to police documents.

Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights advocates, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it has been targeted by Islamabad with harassment and extrajudicial killings.

Pakistan’s military and the central government in Islamabad strongly refute her allegations. 

Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

On Friday, she and other activists took part in a sit-in protest outside the University of Balochistan in the provincial capital of Quetta.

They demanded the release of members of their support group, whom they allege had been detained by security agencies.

Police launched a pre-dawn raid on Saturday, arresting Baloch and other activists, during which at least three protesters died. Both sides blamed each other for the deaths.

Mary Lawlor, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said she was “very concerned” at Baloch’s arrest.

Baloch and other protesters have been charged with terrorism, sedition and murder, according to the police charge sheet seen by AFP.

Hamza Shafqaat, a senior administrative official in Quetta, said that Baloch and other activists were held under public order laws.

Her lawyer, Imran Baloch, confirmed she was detained in a jail in Quetta.

Baloch was barred from traveling to the United States last year to attend a TIME magazine awards gala of “rising leaders.”

Protests among the Baloch are often led by women. Baloch, now in her 30s, began her activist career aged 16 when her father went missing in what his supporters said was an alleged “enforced disappearance.” His body was found two years later.

Earlier in March, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) — which accuses outsiders of plundering the province’s natural resources — launched a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.

ISLAMABAD: Peace and progress in Afghanistan are necessary for regional stability, Pakistan’s special envoy Muhammad Sadiq Khan said on Sunday, amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries due to militancy. 

Khan, Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan, is on a three-day visit to the country to discuss bilateral matters with Afghan officials. His visit takes place amid tense relations between the two countries due to a mix of security, political and border issues, with Islamabad accusing the Taliban-led interim government in Kabul of providing safe haven to anti-Pakistan militant groups facilitating cross-border attacks. Kabul has denied the allegations.

The friction escalated after a recent targeting of a passenger train in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Pakistani officials said the BLA fighters remained in contact with “handlers” based in Afghanistan during the attack that lasted for two days and involved hundreds of hostages.

“Peace and progress in Afghanistan is essential for regional stability,” Khan was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul on the occasion of Pakistan’s Republic Day. 

“Pakistan and Afghanistan must synergize their efforts to foster regional economic development.”

The Pakistani envoy described Afghanistan as “one of the most important regional partners” of his country, stressing the need for both to work together to enhance bilateral trade and regional connectivity. 

“Pakistan remains committed to a strong and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship with Afghanistan,” Khan said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military said in a statement on Sunday that it gunned down 16 militants who attempted to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan on the night between Mar. 22-23 in the North Waziristan district. 

“Pakistan has consistently been asking Interim Afghan Government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said.

“Interim Afghan Government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”

The ISPR said Pakistan’s security forces are committed to securing its borders and eliminating “terrorism” from the country.

Pakistan’s ties with Afghanistan were also strained after the former launched a nationwide deportation campaign targeting undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghans, in November 2023, shortly after a series of deadly suicide bombings that officials blamed on Afghan nationals.

The move, which added to diplomatic tensions between the two countries, has so far led to the repatriation of more than 800,000 Afghans. Many of them had lived in Pakistan since fleeing the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979.

The Pakistani government earlier this month also directed Afghanistan Citizen Card holders to leave the country by March 31, warning they would face deportation if they failed to comply.