Pakistan
Pakistan's security agencies stand accused of enforced disappearances on a large scale, above all of Baloch and Pashtun men: the government's own commission had listed 6,506 cases by the end of 2019 and still registered 273 new ones in 2025, while rights groups say the true numbers are far higher. Human Rights Watch documented Baloch men taken by intelligence agencies and the Frontier Corps, many later found dead. Peaceful movements against disappearances, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, have been fired on, banned and jailed. Military operations displaced hundreds of thousands in Waziristan and have killed civilians in strikes, as in Tirah in 2025. In 2007 the army stormed Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa madrasa in Islamabad.
Key numbers
Who is responsible
Pakistan's army and intelligence agencies (ISI, Military Intelligence), the Frontier Corps, provincial police in Balochistan, Punjab and Islamabad, and the federal government, which banned the PTM; the 2007 Lal Masjid assault was ordered under President Pervez Musharraf.
Timeline
- 2006 Strike on a madrasa in Chenagai, Bajaur, kills 70–82.
- 2007 Army storms Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa; officially 102 dead, religious parties claim up to 1,000.
- 2009 South Waziristan operation displaces about 70,000.
- 2011 HRW documents disappearances of Baloch men by security agencies.
- 2014 Model Town shooting in Lahore; North Waziristan operation displaces up to 930,000.
- 2019 Soldiers fire on PTM protesters at Kharqamar.
- 2023 Baloch long march broken up in Islamabad.
- 2024 PTM banned; arrests at the Gwadar Baloch gathering.
- 2025 Mahrang Baloch jailed; civilians killed in Tirah bombing.
Records (15)
Chenagai madrasa strike, Bajaur
Before dawn on 30 October 2006 a strike destroyed an Islamic boarding school in Chenagai village, Bajaur; local sources say 70–82 were killed, described as seminary students. CBS News called it an errant US drone strike; the US denied responsibility and the attacker remains disputed.
70–82 killed
Source: CBS News: The emerging age of drone wars · Dawn: NWFP senior minister resigns
Siege of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa
Security forces besieged and stormed Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa women's madrasa in Islamabad on 3–11 July 2007. The interior minister put the toll at 102, including 91 civilians, and the government admitted women and children were killed; religious parties claimed 400 to 1,000 students died.
91–1,000 killed
Source: Dawn: Lal Masjid women, children also killed · Wikipedia: Siege of Lal Masjid
Enforced disappearances in Balochistan (HRW)
Human Rights Watch documented dozens of enforced disappearances of ethnic Baloch in 2009–2010, carried out by intelligence agencies and the Frontier Corps. Media reports cited more than 70 bodies of previously disappeared people found between July 2010 and February 2011.
45–49 detained70 killed
Source: Human Rights Watch: We Can Torture, Kill, or Keep You for Years
Displacement from South Waziristan
The army's Rah-e-Nijat operation against militants, launched in October 2009, drove nearly 70,000 people out of South Waziristan; returns were only beginning in March 2015.
70,000 displaced
Source: Dawn: Rah-e-Nijat IDPs to return
Enforced disappearance cases (government commission)
The government's Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, set up in 2011, had listed 6,506 cases nationwide by the end of 2019, only 472 of them from Balochistan; advocacy groups say the real number is far higher.
6,506 detained
Displacement from North Waziristan
The Zarb-e-Azb military operation, launched in June 2014, forced about 435,000 people to flee within Pakistan and some 50,000 into eastern Afghanistan within days; by mid-July 929,859 people were registered as displaced.
485,000–929,859 displaced
Source: Dawn: Polio may spread in wake of North Waziristan operation: UN · Wikipedia: Operation Zarb-e-Azb (Express Tribune figure)
Model Town shooting, Lahore
On 17 June 2014 police fired on supporters of Tahirul Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek resisting removal of barriers outside the Minhaj-ul-Quran offices in Model Town. At least 8 were killed by gunshot and about 80 injured; later counts give 14 dead.
8–14 killed
Source: Human Rights Watch: Fully Investigate Deadly Shootings · Wikipedia: 2014 Lahore clash
Kharqamar shooting of PTM protesters
On 26 May 2019 soldiers at the Kharqamar checkpoint in North Waziristan fired on a Pashtun Tahafuz Movement gathering. The military said 3 protesters died and 5 more bodies were found; PTM said at least 13–15 were killed. The army says protesters attacked first; PTM says they were unarmed.
8–15 killed
Source: Al Jazeera: Pakistan legislator denies checkpoint 'attack' · Wikipedia: Kharqamar incident
Baloch march dispersed in Islamabad
A march against enforced disappearances and the death in custody of Balach Maula Bakhsh, which walked from Turbat to Islamabad, was broken up by police on 21 December 2023; Mahrang Baloch and 'several women and men' were arrested.
Source: RFE/RL: March To Protest Excessive Arrests Of Baluch Men Ends Violently
Arrests at Baloch gathering in Gwadar
During protests around the Baloch gathering in Gwadar in July 2024, the provincial interior minister said 25 protesters were arrested; Baloch organisers said more than 300 were held in raids across Balochistan.
25–300 detained
Pashtun Tahafuz Movement banned
Pakistan declared the Pashtun civil-rights movement PTM a 'proscribed organization' on 6 October 2024. In clashes with police in Jamrud before its jirga at least four PTM activists were killed, and PTM said over 200 members were arrested.
4 killed200 detained
Source: RFE/RL: Pakistan's Ban On Prominent Civil Rights Group
New enforced disappearance cases in 2025
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances registered 273 new cases in 2025, most in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (101); 16 missing persons were found dead. In Balochistan the commission counted 36 cases in January–June while the BYC counted 750. HRCP says the official figures are vastly under-reported.
273–750 detained
Quetta sit-in dispersed; Mahrang Baloch jailed
In March 2025 Quetta police dispersed a Baloch Yakjehti Committee sit-in against enforced disappearances with tear gas and water cannon; the BYC said three protesters were killed. BYC leader Dr Mahrang Baloch and about 150 others were arrested, and she was held on terrorism, murder and sedition charges.
≤3 killed150 detained
Source: HRCP: State of Human Rights in 2025 · RFE/RL: Who Is Mahrang Baloch?
Children killed in suspected drone strike, Hurmuz
In May 2025 several children were killed and others injured in a suspected munitions drop on Hurmuz village, North Waziristan. HRCP said the source was unclear and warned of continued drone and quadcopter strikes on civilian areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Tirah aerial bombing
In September 2025 over 20 civilians, including women and children, were reportedly killed in Tirah, Khyber district, allegedly by aerial bombardment. HRCP demanded an impartial inquiry; in December residents agreed to vacate homes for a military operation.
20 killed