The illegal occupation of Balochistan by Pakistan represents a long-standing festering wound. The largest, resource-abundant, yet poorest province of the country, Balochistan has been reeling in the crossfire of a chronic armed insurgency and a disproportionate state response, in addition to systemic political and economic marginalisation. Even as Pakistan was recently engaged in military confrontations with India—the most severe since the Kargil conflict of 1999—the Baloch insurgents kept intensifying their operations. Now, in the name of more effective counter-terrorism, the puppet government in Balochistan has passed another legislation that threatens to worsen the situation by legitimising state excesses in the province.

Amid vehement opposition by legal experts, human rights groups, and civil society, the Balochistan Assembly passed the Counter-terrorism (Balochistan Amendment) Act 2025 on June 4. The legislation, which makes new inclusions into the 1997 Anti-terrorism Act, authorises armed forces, civil armed forces, and intelligence agencies to preventively detain a person for up to three months without any charges or trial. Eliminating judicial oversight, joint investigation teams can now issue detention orders, seize property or other possessions, and conduct ideological or psychological profiling of the detainees, all on their own accord. The Act has been put in place for six years, after which it can be extended for a period of two years if the provincial........

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