In Islamabad on Thursday, Pakistani police employed tear gas and water cannons to disperse protests led by women. As they entered the capital, including protest leader Mahrang Baloch, at least 200 individuals were arrested.

The protests, spanning several weeks across the country, aim to draw attention to alleged enforced disappearances of men in Balochistan province.

The movement gained momentum following the death of a Baloch man, with relatives claiming he was shot dead while in police custody.

Ms. Baloch, expressing the challenges faced by the march, stated on X (formerly known as Twitter) around 02:30 local time (21:30 GMT) that the protest was "under attack by the Islamabad police." The demonstrators were obstructed from entering the Red Zone, which houses executive, judicial, and legislative buildings in Islamabad, by police officers wielding batons and donning protective headgear.

Social media videos depicted chaotic scenes of officers forcing protestors into police vehicles, with many individuals shouting and crying. Some were seated on the ground, displaying visible wounds.

In Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, "enforced disappearances" refer to alleged undeclared arrests made by intelligence services, which cannot be traced by courts and are not acknowledged by the government. Victims reportedly include political workers, journalists, human rights activists, and students.

These accusations have persisted for decades, dating back to the emergence of the Balochistan nationalist movement in the early 2000s. Baloch women have actively sought justice for their missing loved ones, aiming to bring the issue to global attention.

In the most recent case, Balach Mola Bakhsh, 24, was taken away by counter-terrorism police on 29 October. He was held for almost a month before authorities claimed that he had been caught in possession of explosives.

On 23 November, a day before his bail plea was scheduled to take place, the police said four "terrorists" from a "proscribed group", including Baksh, had been killed during a shootout with police in Turbat, a city in Balochistan. His family disputes the terrorism claim and says he died in police custody.

Protests - which organizers have called the "march against Baloch genocide" - started the day Bakhsh was said to have been killed. The protesters are demanding an end to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, as well as accountability for those involved in the alleged extrajudicial killings of Baloch youth.

Speaking to the BBC before she was arrested, Ms Baloch said: "We started our march more than 26 days ago. We are hundreds and thousands of mothers, sisters, and daughters of men [who] disappeared or [were] killed.

"[The authorities] will do anything to stop us, but we will not stop. We all are peaceful protesters and we will remain peaceful, even [when] they're not peaceful to us."

lives are precious.... the needful should be done about this.

Noted