QUETTA: A leading Baloch ethnic rights group announced on Saturday its top leader was arrested along with several of her colleagues in southwestern Balochistan after police raided their protest camp at dawn in the provincial capital of Quetta.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch has long campaigned for the rights of the ethnic Baloch community, which claims to be subjected to extrajudicial harassment, arrests and killings by security forces in the province.
The Pakistani state, however, denies the allegation, saying its forces are combating separatist militants who target armed forces personnel and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich province that borders Iran and Afghanistan.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said its leader’s arrest came amid a province-wide wheel-jam strike that followed an alleged police attack on a protest in Quetta that killed three people on Friday evening. BYC said its leader and other supporters began a sit-in with the bodies of the deceased when authorities intervened and detained them.
“At around 5:30 this morning, police and other state agencies attacked the protest sit-in, seized the bodies of the martyrs from the demonstrators, and arrested Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s central leader, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, along with her companions,” Sammi Deen Baloch, another BYC leader, said in a social media post.
“The bodies of the slain youth were also forcibly taken into custody,” she added. “In addition, a crackdown was carried out against women and children as well.”
Balochistan’s provincial authorities accused the BYC of getting into a confrontation with police after some of its members allegedly tried to snatch the bodies of deceased militants involved in the hijacking of a passenger train in the province from a mortuary last week.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group, had targeted the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express in the mountainous Bolan region on March 11, taking hundreds of passengers captive.
The siege, which lasted for two days, ended after a military operation that killed 33 militants. The attack, which also claimed the lives of over 30 civilians and security personnel, was one of the deadliest train assaults in the country’s history.
A senior police official confirmed to Arab News on condition of anonymity that Baloch and seven other BYC activists had been arrested in this morning following the attempt to take militants’ bodies with them.
“Police have lodged an FIR [first information report] against Dr. Mahrang and other protesters who attempted to snatch militants’ bodies from the Civil Hospital on Wednesday to glorify the terrorists,” he said. “They also snatched two bodies yesterday from the families who wanted to bury their loved ones and didn’t want to be part of the police and BYC clash.”
A statement released by the office of the commissioner Quetta division during the day also maintained the BYC initiated a protest seeking the recovery of the bodies of militants who targeted the passenger train.
“The protest quickly turned violent as BYC protesters and their armed accomplices resorted to stone-pelting, indiscriminate firing and attacks on law enforcement personnel,” the statement continued. “During the unrest, three individuals lost their lives due to the firing by armed elements accompanying BYC leadership.”
The statement added civil authorities and police emphasized the deceased individuals’ bodies required examination to ascertain the actual circumstances of their deaths, but the BYC refused to hand them over.
“On the request of the deceased’s families, police successfully recovered the bodies from the unlawful custody of BYC supporters and ensured their respectful handover to the respective families,” the statement informed.
“Legal proceedings have been initiated against BYC leaders and their armed associates for inciting and abetting unlawful activities,” it added. “They have been booked under relevant laws for attacking the Civil Hospital, instigating violent protests and other serious offenses.”
Meanwhile, Sabiha Baloch, a senior BYC member, conducted a news conference in which she presented a list of demands to the government.
“The [Balochistan] chief minister, inspector general of police, commissioner and deputy commissioner of Quetta must be sacked for killing three unarmed protesters,” she said. “All detained members of BYC, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, must be released immediately.”
The authorities restored the cellphone service in Quetta on Saturday evening after suspending it for 16 hours amid the BYC protests. However, the cellphone Internet service continues to remain suspended even after three days.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged Pakistanis to take steps to preserve water resources, including glaciers, for a water-secure future of the country, his office said on Saturday, on the World Water Day.
The World Water Day is an annual United Nations (UN) observance held on March 22 each year that highlights the importance of freshwater. The day is used to advocate for sustainable management of freshwater resources across the globe.
In his message, Sharif said the day, being observed under the theme of “Glacier Preservation” this year, reminds them of the critical role glaciers play in sustaining the planet’s freshwater supplies and of the grave challenges in protecting this essential resource.
“Nearly half of the global population experiences water scarcity for at least part of the year. Billions remain without access to clean drinking water, while water pollution continues to rise at alarming levels. Our wetlands are disappearing three times faster than our forests. This is no longer a distant threat. It is a global crisis that demands immediate and collective action,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office.
“On this World Water Day, let us reaffirm our resolve to preserve our glaciers, protect our water resources, and work together for a resilient, water-secure future— for our people, our region, and our planet.”
There are a total of 13,000 glaciers in Pakistan and nearly 10,000 of them are receding and expected to cause significant water disruptions, according to Pakistani authorities.
The melting of these glaciers at a fast pace and heavy untimely rains due to climate change put the South Asian country at risk of frequent floods, while at the same time, droughts pose an equally serious threat, with nearly 80 percent of Pakistan’s land categorized as arid or semi-arid and 30 percent of population directly affected by drought-like conditions.
Melting glaciers contribute to rising sea levels, another cause of coastal erosion. The sea level at Karachi rose almost 8 inches (almost 20 centimeters) between 1916 and 2016, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s projected to rise another half-inch (about 1.3 centimeters) by 2040.
In areas near the southwestern coastal city of Gwadar, like Pishukan and Ganz, waves have swallowed up mosques, schools, and settlements. There are gashes in the cliffs at the popular picnic spot of Sunset Park and rocks have cascaded onto the shore, while beaches run flat for dozens of kilometers because no structures remain on it.
“Pakistan is among the ten countries most vulnerable to climate change. Our average temperatures are projected to rise faster than the global average,” Sharif said.
“Over three-quarters of our water resources originate outside our borders. That is why Pakistan attaches great importance to transboundary water cooperation.”
He said his government was working to mitigate climate-induced flood risks and reduce drought impacts through ecosystem-based adaptation, and implementing 25 priority interventions from promoting nature-based agriculture and restoring the Indus delta to curbing industrial pollution and investing in green infrastructure.