‘Blatant war crime’: BNM condemns Pak airstrikes in Balochistan’s Surab

Quetta, Aug 13 (IANS) The Baloch National Movement (BNM) described Pakistani airstrikes in the Gidar area of Balochistan’s Surab district as a “blatant war crime”, after the attacks reportedly killed over 30 civilians, including women and children, and injured several others.

The incident took place in the early hours of Wednesday when the Pakistani Air Force reportedly carried out indiscriminate bombardment in residential areas in the Gidar area of Surab, killing civilians and causing significant damage to properties.

Condemning the incident, the BNM said that airstrikes targeting residential areas that have killed several civilians, including children under ten years old, raises grave concerns over human rights and civilian safety across Balochistan.

Emphasising that bombing civilian populations and taking innocent young lives constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, the BNM said, “The Pakistan Army is not acting alone in these acts—which include indiscriminate force against civilians, home demolitions, and forced displacement—as local politicians and political parties facilitating these crimes are equally complicit.”

The BNM called on the European Union (EU) and international bodies to take swift, effective action rather than remaining silent on the humanitarian crisis. It urged the EU to immediately suspend Pakistan’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status and all associated trade preferences, noting that such privileges are strictly contingent upon compliance with fundamental human rights standards.

Furthermore, the Baloch group urged international media outlets to report “factual, impartial news rather than amplifying one-sided propaganda and false narratives” from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the official media and public relations wing for Pakistan’s Armed Forces.

“Immediate international intervention and an independent investigation by global rights organisations are critical. A failure by the international community to respond promptly will not only deepen the humanitarian disaster in Balochistan but also undermine the credibility of global institutions,” the BNM stated.

Following the incident, relatives of the deceased and local residents staged a sit-in protest by placing the dead bodies in Surab’s main square along the N-25 Quetta-Karachi highway. The protest disrupted traffic on the key highway, leaving long queues of vehicles stranded on both sides of the road. Protesters said they would continue the sit-in until their demands were met, The Balochistan Post reported.

The brutal incident also drew condemnation and concern from political and civil society groups.

Describing the attack as a “massacre” of innocent civilians, human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said, “This is not an isolated incident. It follows a documented pattern of aerial bombardment of civilian areas across Balochistan, from Zehri to Mastung, where the Pakistani military has repeatedly targeted residential areas and subsequently labelled those killed as ‘militants’ to evade accountability.”

Meanwhile, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) criticised the deadly attack, stating that targeting civilians inside their homes is a “blatant act of brutality” by the Pakistani security forces and a grave assault on civilian life.

“The Surab massacre exposes the extent of the brutality being inflicted on civilians in Balochistan by Pakistani security forces. Women, children and elderly people cannot be treated as targets under any claim of security or military necessity. Killing civilians in their homes is an unacceptable use of state force and must not be allowed to continue with impunity,” it noted.

–IANS

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