BYC is backing BLA militants through selective advocacy and overlook the use of women and students by BLA and BLF.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s (BYC) claim that two women were forcibly disappeared by the state has reopened a recurring and unresolved question in Balochistan: whether certain advocacy campaigns function as human rights platforms, or whether they operate as narrative shields for militant networks.
On December 25, BYC launched a coordinated social media campaign portraying Hani Baloch and Khair-un-Nisa as “missing” and attributing their absence to state action. What the campaign does not acknowledge is that both women had already been detained five days earlier, on December 20, in an operation linked to the prevention of a planned suicide attack.
Timeline Versus Narrative
Available information indicates that intelligence obtained earlier this identified Farid alias Zagreen, a resident of Tejaban in Kech district, as a facilitator involved in preparing a female suicide bomber. The woman identified for the attack was Khair-un-Nisa, daughter of Abdul Wahid.
Farid was detained, after which Khair-un-Nisa was traced to her uncle’s residence in Hub. She was taken into custody there along with Hani, wife of Abdul Aziz, also from Tijaban, Kech. Both were moved to a secure location for questioning.
The sequence matters. The arrests occurred on December 20, while the disappearance narrative surfaced publicly on December 25. The gap has raised questions about why the detentions were presented as enforced disappearances rather than acknowledged as part of a counterterrorism intervention.
In recent years, several women have carried out suicide attacks in Balochistan, including Shari Baloch, Mahil Baloch, Adila Baloch, Ganjatoon alias Barmesh, and Zarina Rafiq, who carried out a suicide bombing in Nokundi. During these cases, there were no comparable campaigns highlighting the coercion, radicalisation, or exploitation of these women while they were under the control of militant groups.
The contrast is notable: silence when women were being deployed as suicide bombers, followed by swift mobilisation when women undergoing similar training were intercepted before an attack. This pattern has strengthened criticism that advocacy efforts are activated primarily after arrests, rather than in response to militant violence itself.
External Amplification and the Disinformation Context
The campaign surrounding Hani and Khair-un-Nisa has also been amplified by overseas advocacy platforms, including PANK, drawing attention to a broader information ecosystem previously examined by independent researchers.
In 2020, the Brussels-based watchdog EU DisinfoLab exposed a large-scale disinformation operation originating from Indian networks. The investigation documented more than 750 fake media outlets operating across 65 countries, many of which adopted the names of defunct NGOs, deceased academics, and dormant institutions to create an appearance of legitimacy.
According to EU DisinfoLab’s findings, these platforms consistently pushed anti-Pakistan narratives under the cover of human rights advocacy, particularly targeting European and United Nations forums. The operation was traced to the Srivastava Group, with Asian News International (ANI) identified as a central amplifier of the fabricated content.
The exposure illustrated how advocacy language, NGO branding, and international platforms could be repurposed to advance geopolitical information campaigns rather than genuine rights reporting. Current online mobilisation patterns echo several of the same characteristics identified in that investigation: coordinated messaging, rapid overseas amplification, and the consistent framing of counterterrorism actions as rights violations while omitting militant violence.
Historically, Baloch tribal norms placed women and children outside the sphere of conflict. Even during prolonged inter-tribal disputes, their neutrality and protection remained largely unquestioned. The use of women in suicide bombings represents a clear departure from these traditions.
In recent years, banned outfits such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) have increasingly incorporated women into militant operations. This shift has coincided with digital indoctrination and narrative campaigns that blur distinctions between activism and armed terrorism.
Women are not the only group affected. Students have increasingly appeared at the intersection of militancy and advocacy narratives.
Cases such as that of Sufyan Kurd, a student whose radicalisation trajectory by the BYC ended in a fatal encounter, are often cited as examples of how online ideological grooming can translate into violence. At the same time, young people who refuse to align with militant groups have faced threats, branding as informers, and, in some cases, lethal consequences.
While enforced disappearance allegations dominate headlines and international reporting, other forms of abuse receive far less attention: coercion of women into suicide missions, pressure on students to join armed groups, and violence against those who refuse.
Families affected by these dynamics often remain absent from broader human rights debates, despite living with the long-term consequences of militant recruitment and intimidation.
Human rights organization cannot prioritize a specific narrative.This silence has allowed banned organisations to exploit vulnerable groups, manipulate young minds, and violate the basic rights of ordinary citizens.
