At least 22 persons from Punjab were released on September 21, from custody of Lashkar-e-Balochistan (LeB) after three days of their abduction in Kech District of Balochistan, reports The Balochistan Post. LeB, said in a press release that “LeB has released 22 Punjabis, who were arrested by Baloch fighters a few days earlier from Kech district of Balochistan.” LeB ‘spokesman’ Lawang Baloch stated that a few days earlier, our comrades took 22 Punjabis into their custody in Zamuran Kech, and they remained in our custody for three days. During their detention, they were fully investigated and came out that they are all innocent people and had come for work. They were detained on suspicion because the agents of secret services usually travel in the same fashion. According to our information, these 22 people were ordinary civilians, hence they were released, he said.
Meanwhile, the women protested in Turbat town of Kech District on September 23, against forced labour of drivers by Army on Goldsmid’s border which separates Western Balochistan (Iran) from Eastern Balochistan (Pakistan), reports The Balochistan Post. Women staged a sit-in at Shaheed Fida Chowk in Turbat town closing all business centers and traffic was suspended in the city. The protest was held against harassment of oil traders and unwarranted round-up of vehicles by Pakistani forces. According to women participating in the sit-in, “our husbands and brothers bring oil and other food items from Iran to feed their children. The FC officials sometimes force the owners of these vehicles to do forced labor on the border, sometimes their vehicles are confiscated in the name of tax”. “Our children have not returned home for 21 days, FC personnel are forcing them to work,” said a woman participating in the sit-in protest.