QUETTA: National Party (NP) President Dr Abdul Malik Baloch met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday and discussed various issues pertaining to Balochistan, including missing persons and flood-related damages.

According to the party’s secretary general, Jan Buledi, the meeting was held in Islamabad, in which the two leaders also discussed the prevailing political and economic situation in detail.

Dr Baloch, a former chief minister of Balochistan, specifically took up the issue of missing persons and informed the premier that it had become a serious issue in the province. “Some people were forcibly disappeared and remain missing for years, and despite the demand of political parties, none of them has been recovered so far,” he said.

He also informed Mr Sharif about the massive destruction caused by recent heavy monsoon rains and flash floods that have killed 278 people and displaced 1.5 million in Balochistan.

“Hundreds and thousands of displaced families were living in the open as the relief goods were not provided to all flood victims,” he noted, saying that relief efforts should be stepped up in flood-stricken areas.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2022