Pakistan is facing a storm of international outrage after its own military spokesperson appeared to boast about carrying out tens of thousands of armed operations across the country — figures that Baloch leaders say amount to a “shocking confession of systematic war crimes”.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DGISPR), claimed this week that the Pakistani military had conducted 67,023 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) nationwide this year alone, killing 1,873 people, including 136 Afghans. Since 4 November, he added, another 4,910 raids had been launched, killing 206 more.
The extraordinary scale of these numbers has triggered furious accusations from Baloch political leaders, who say Pakistan’s own statements expose what they describe as a decades-long campaign of occupation, brutality and mass human-rights abuses.
Balochistan: ‘Pakistan Has Admitted to Its Own Crimes’
In a blistering statement, the self-declared Republic of Balochistan said the briefing represents “a blatant confession of Pakistan’s long-running war crimes in Balochistan”.
They accuse Pakistan of waging a near-continuous military campaign against Baloch civilians since the region’s disputed annexation in 1948, claiming the province has suffered five full-scale wars, relentless air and ground assaults, and what they describe as “uninterrupted military hostility”.
According to Baloch leaders, Pakistan’s own public figures imply that close to 100,000 people were abducted in a single year — with thousands allegedly tortured, executed extrajudicially, or dumped in remote areas.
“These aren’t random excesses,” the statement said. “They are systematic violations of international law.”
ICC AND ICJ PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY
The Baloch government-in-exile says it is preparing to present Pakistan’s military briefings as evidence before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the United Nations.
They are also demanding the production of all individuals allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance, under supervision of international judicial bodies.
“We will use Pakistan’s own words against them,” the statement declared.
A ‘Foreign Occupying Force’
The Baloch authorities insist they do not recognise Pakistan’s constitution, laws or administrative authority, calling the Pakistani military “a foreign occupying force” with no moral or political legitimacy over Balochistan or neighbouring Pashtun regions.
They argue that every Baloch killed by Pakistan was “a patriot defending their homeland”, and even compared the situation to the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities, when Pakistan’s military was accused of massacring civilians on a massive scale.
Baloch leaders claim that the pattern of violence revealed by Pakistan’s figures “surpasses even that dark chapter”.
Call for International Action
The statement urges “friendly nations, human-rights defenders and justice-seeking peoples of the world” to stand with Balochistan and support efforts to haul Pakistani officials before international courts.
Balochistan says it will now confront Pakistan “on the global stage with full force”, determined to ensure the country is “held accountable for decades of atrocities”.
Pakistan has not yet issued a formal response, but has historically dismissed such allegations as separatist propaganda.
