KARACHI, Dec 13: After spending 20 days at a protest camp outside the Karachi Press Club, the families of missing persons on Friday resumed their journey towards Islamabad.

Led by 70-year-old Qadir Baloch, vice president of an advocacy group named Voice of Missing Baloch Persons, families will cover the 1,416-kilometre distance on foot. The marchers had already covered a 756-km journey that began on Oct 27 from the Quetta Press Club and ended on Nov 23 at the Karachi Press Club.

While in Karachi, the families spent days at a protest camp outside the press club where they were visited by leaders of political parties, ministers and rights activists.

One of the marchers, Abdullah Baloch, informed Dawn that the families were promised security by the Supreme Court of Pakistan but it was only near Sharea Faisal that the marchers were escorted by two police vans. But none of the protesters were sure for how long the security will stay with them.

Due to the nature of the case of missing men, the families, particularly Qadir Baloch, repeatedly spoke about receiving “threats via text messages and phone calls”.

“Around 2pm, as we reached near Hotel Regent Plaza, two armed men tried to walk beside us,” said Abdullah Baloch, fearing similar happenings on their way ahead.

Speaking about their journey, Qadir Baloch said that they would go straight away to the National Press Club on reaching Islamabad. “We’ll decide what to do next after reaching Islamabad. Right now all I’m thinking about is the road ahead.”

The families stayed in Malir for a night before resuming their march on Saturday.