Shiwar News – On Friday, 4 November 2022 (13 Aban 1401), less than forty days after the killing of Baloch worshippers and civilians during Zahedan’s Bloody Friday, military and security forces of the Islamic Republic once again opened fire on Baloch protesters, this time in Khāsh. At least 18 people were killed and dozens more were injured.
Among those killed were children and teenagers, including Mobin Mirkazehi, 14; Kambiz Rigi, 16; and Yaser Bahadorzehi, 17, a teenager with severe physical and intellectual disabilities.
These children were killed by government forces on a day officially designated as Student Day in the Islamic Republic’s calendar—a day intended to commemorate the importance of students’ lives and rights. Yet in Balochistan, that same day was marked by the killing of children and teenagers by the forces of the very government that observes it.
Over the past four years, security and government institutions have sought to silence Baloch demands for justice through summoning and threatening civil society activists, arresting those demanding accountability, placing pressure on families, and attempting to impose an official narrative of the events.
Despite these pressures, however, they have been unable to erase the accounts of victims’ families and witnesses from public awareness.
Despite official apologies and promises by the authorities, justice has not been delivered to the families of those killed or injured, nor has there been transparent and effective accountability regarding those who ordered and carried out the killings.
Four years after Khāsh’s Bloody Friday, fundamental questions remain unanswered: Who ordered security forces to open fire on Baloch civilians, including children and teenagers? Why have those responsible for ordering and carrying out the killings continued to evade accountability? And why, despite the passage of four years, have the government’s promises to address the circumstances of the victims’ families and those injured remained unfulfilled?
The Bloody Friday killings in Khāsh and Zahedan remain two unresolved cases involving the killing of Baloch civilians—cases that cannot be closed simply through the passage of time, official apologies, or unfulfilled promises.
The government’s responsibility for the lives lost, and the right of the families to establish the truth and seek justice, remain unchanged.