Wahid Baloch and the plight of ‘missing persons’ in Pakistan

Wahid Baloch, a prominent activist, was allegedly detained by security forces earlier this year. Baloch has now been reunited with his family but there’re thousands of other Baluchistan activists whose fate is unknown.

Pakistani activist Wahid Baloch, who “disappeared” four months ago, has returned to his home in the southern city of Karachi. “The social activist, writer and small-scale publisher is believed to have been detained by unidentified security officials on July 26 on the outskirts of Karachi, setting off a frightening, though wearingly familiar, process of recovery for his shocked family,” said Pakistan’s English daily, Dawn, on Wednesday, December 7.

Protest against enforced disappearance of 4 Baloch youths in Kardigap Closed the R.C.D Highway

BALOCHISTAN: Woman and children protesting in Kardigap against the enforced disappearance of four Baloch youth by Pakistani forces blocked the R.C.D highway and the traffic on Quetta-Taftan road was disrupted.

According to details; Kardigap a tehsil of Mastung district erupted in protest after the arrest and then enforced disappearance of four football players from football ground by the Pakistani forces.

Eliminate Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan to win Afghan war: US official

A former vice chief of the army John M Keane said no insurgency has ever been defeated while it maintains sanctuary outside the conflict area.

By: PTI | Washington | December 7, 2016

A former US Army official has said that to win the war against Taliban in Afghanistan, it is essential to destroy their safe havens in Pakistan, alleging that Pak military provides intelligence, training and logistics assistance to them.

“What’s required is a new strategy with a commitment to force the elimination of sanctuaries in Pakistan,” General (rtd) John M Keane, a former vice chief of the army and chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, told members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats.

Not a single dollar to Pakistan until action against Haqqani: US Congressman Ted Poe

Washington, D.C.: Pakistan does not deserve a single dollar of American tax payers’ money, if it is unable to take action against the dreaded Haqqani network, a leading US Congressman has said. “The Haqqani Network has killed more Americans in Afghanistan than any other terrorist group, but the government of Pakistan has done little to go after it, despite taking some USD 33 billion of United States’ money since 9/11,” Congressman Ted Poe, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairman, said in a statement.

“My bipartisan amendment limits foreign aid to Pakistan until the Administration certifies that Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting Haqqani Network senior leaders and mid-level operatives,” he said.