UN refugee agency voices concern over murder of 3 Baloch leaders in Pakistan

The United Nations refugee agency has added its voice to the concern expressed over the killing of three Pakistani Baloch leaders last week, urging the South-Asian Government to launch an investigation into the murders.

The three men from the south-western province of Balochistan, the largest in Pakistan, were members of the Quam Dost Committee, which was recently established by the Government to investigate cases of missing people in the region, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“UNHCR supports calls for the Government of Pakistan to immediately investigate these murders and to ensure that the Balochistan Quam Dost Committee continues its important work,” UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond said yesterday in Geneva.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those killed,” he added.

Earlier this month, the head of the UNHCR office in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, was released after being abducted in an attack on 2 February that left another colleague, Syed Hashim, dead.

The Balochistan Liberation United Front was the group that claimed to be holding UNHCR staff member John Solecki, demanding the release of people it says are in Pakistani custody.