Pakistan extends detention of activist Mahrang Baloch, others in terror case

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court extended the police custody of Baloch rights activist Mahrang Baloch and five other members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) for an additional 15 days on Friday, as authorities pursue charges of terrorism, sedition, and murder.

The BYC is a Baloch rights group formed in 2018 that has led demonstrations against alleged state violence in the country’s restive Balochistan province.

The group members appeared before the court in the southwestern city of Quetta on Friday amid tight security. The police requested more time to continue their investigation. The court granted the appeal. The six detainees will be brought before the court again after the new remand period ends.

The latest development follows a similar hearing on July 8, when the court granted police a 10-day physical remand of the same individuals.

Baloch, 32, who heads the BYC, was first detained on March 22 under Pakistan’s Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law. Her detention has since been extended multiple times by the Balochistan Home Department - first for 30 days, then again for 30 more in April, followed by a 15-day extension in June.

Authorities say the charges relate to an incident at Quetta’s Civil Hospital in March, where BYC members allegedly stormed the morgue and tried to take possession of the bodies of five suspected militants killed in a security operation targeting train hijackers. Baloch is accused of forcibly taking the bodies, inciting violence, and committing other related offences.

The arrests have drawn criticism from human rights organizations, which view the case as part of a broader crackdown on dissent in Balochistan. Last month, Baloch’s family filed a petition in Pakistan’s Supreme Court seeking her release, arguing the charges are politically motivated. The petition remains under review.

Tensions in Balochistan are longstanding. Despite being rich in natural resources, the province has endured decades of political instability, alleged rights abuses, and a simmering separatist insurgency near its borders with Iran and Afghanistan.