After days of simmering tensions in the port city of Gwadar, which has been under a communications and road blockade amid protests by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), officials have claimed a breakthrough in their talks with protesters led by Dr. Mahrang Baloch.
The government was represented by Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove, while Dr. Mahrang Baloch led the BYC side in the talks, which began at the DC House in Gwadar on Wednesday.
In a late-night statement, Gwadar Assistant Commissioner Jawad Zehri announced that the negotiations between the BYC and the administration had succeeded. As a result of the dialogue, the government would release the BYC protesters.
He stated that the government would restore mobile phone services and remove road blockades, while the BYC would call off their sit-in. He also noted that the National Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, and Balochistan National Party played key roles in facilitating the talks.
The assistant commissioner indicated that the BYC had “agreed to call off” the sit-in, with communications to be restored and protesters released soon. However, there was no confirmation from the BYC side, as its leadership could not be reached.
Earlier in the day, protests and roadblocks continued across the province in support of the BYC sit-in at Gwadar’s Marine Drive. There were reports of clashes between the police and protesters in the port city. Officials claimed that protesters ransacked an FIA office and a women’s police station, and that police had been unable to remove the protesters’ camp for the past four days.
Protesters reportedly damaged electricity poles and streetlights in the vicinity of the sit-in, plunging the entire area into darkness. There has been no internet or mobile connectivity, despite the home minister being in the city for the past three days. Due to the lack of phone and internet services, it has been difficult to independently verify most information from the area.
Earlier in the day, MPA Hidayatur Rehman, leader of the Gwadar Haq Do Tehreek, warned that he would join the protest if the government did not take tangible measures to resolve the impasse. He described the situation in Gwadar as a curfew, with no one allowed to leave or enter the city, forcing people to arrange air ambulances due to road blockades. He demanded that the government negotiate with BYC leaders and address the recovery of missing persons, a key demand of the BYC.
Protests and roadblocks by the BYC continued in various areas of the province, including Gwadar, Turbat, Noshki, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Awaran, Chagai, Dalbandin, Kharan, Barkhan, and parts of Lasbela district. Highways and roads linking Balochistan with other parts of the country were closed at various points, severely affecting traffic. In Quetta, the Red Zone was completely sealed with containers due to a rally by the BYC, leading to severe traffic jams.
The BYC leaders, addressing a press conference in the provincial capital, warned that if the government did not release their comrades, they would shut down Quetta and the entire province indefinitely. They urged the mainstream media to report on the current situation in Balochistan and declared that if the national media remained silent on the issues in Balochistan, they would boycott it.