Pakistan detained a leading female Baloch rights activist on Saturday for holding a sit-in in southwestern Balochistan at which three protesters were also killed, police said.
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Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights advocates, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group from the southwestern province of Balochistan, which alleges being subjected to extrajudicial harassment, arrests and killings by Islamabad.
The Pakistan government says its forces are fighting separatist militants who target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich province that borders Afghanistan and Iran.
“She, along with 17 other protesters, including 10 men and seven women, has been arrested,” a senior police official said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“It is currently being assessed what charges should be filed against them,” he added.
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The protesters had been holding a sit-in on Friday outside the University of Balochistan, demanding the release of members of their support group, whom they allege had been detained by security agencies.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee, a support group led by Baloch, said she was arrested along with other protesters in a “brutal predawn crackdown by state security forces”.