Pakistani police on December 25 freed 290 Baluch activists who were arrested when they attempted to hold a protest last week in the capital, Islamabad. Their release came days after protest organizers gave authorities a deadline to release all those detained. The activists had traveled 1,600 kilometers on December 21 from Turbat, a town in Balochistan Province, to protest forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the militancy-ravaged southwest. The protesters were mostly women and some had brought along their children, aged 7-12, when security forces used batons and water canons to disperse and arrest them.
Pakistani Police Free 290 Baluch Activists Arrested While Protesting Extrajudicial Killings
Baluch activists had traveled 1,600 kilometers to protest forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Pakistan's militancy-ravaged southwest.