A man leaves home in the morning with one simple hope: to earn enough to take something back to his family by evening. For the labourers working in an orchard in Khad Kocha, that ordinary hope ended in tragedy. On 21 August, four workers were killed and three others injured in a drone attack in the Geet area of Khad Kocha, Mastung, while they were engaged in agricultural work. They were not carrying weapons or participating in any conflict. They were simply working.
What makes the incident particularly disturbing is not only the number of lives lost but the identity of those targeted. These were labourers trying to earn a lawful livelihood. Among the injured were Ali Raza Mengal of Khad Kocha and Naseebullah Abro and Khalid Hussain, residents of Haji Shehar in Kachhi. For their families, the consequences will not end with the attack. A lost worker can mean loss of income, interrupted education for children and a future suddenly filled with uncertainty. Unfortunately, the Khad Kocha attack cannot be viewed in isolation. The recent incidents in Balochistan point towards a troubling pattern in which labourers have repeatedly found themselves in the crosshairs of violence. Four workers were reportedly abducted from a chromite mine near Chehater, Chagai, on 11 August. Earlier, three Sindhi labourers were abducted in Basima, Washuk, while other incidents involved workers in Turbat and construction sites. Whether the workplace is an orchard, a mine or a road project, the message created by such violence is the same: even earning an honest living can carry a deadly risk.
This is where terrorism becomes more than a security challenge. When workers are attacked, livelihoods are attacked. Agriculture, mining and construction provide employment to thousands of people and contribute to local economic activity. Fear can discourage workers from travelling to remote areas, while businesses and contractors may hesitate to invest or continue projects where security remains uncertain. Every disrupted workplace therefore represents a setback not only for one family but for the wider development of the province.
Balochistan cannot afford such a cycle. The province needs peace, employment, investment and opportunities for its young population. Recent discussions between federal and provincial leadership have rightly emphasised that peace and development are closely connected and that greater coordination is necessary to improve security and public welfare. Development cannot take root where workers are afraid to reach their workplaces.
The tragedy in Khad Kocha should therefore make us look beyond the immediate headlines. Four workers did not wake up that morning expecting to become victims of violence. They went to work because their families needed them. That simple fact should be enough to remind us of what terrorism actually destroys.
Balochistan’s people deserve a future in which an orchard means harvest, a mine means employment and a construction site means opportunity, not death. If the province is to move forward, protecting those who work must be treated as seriously as protecting the projects they build. Terrorism may try to turn fear into a way of life, but the answer must be to make ordinary life possible again. That is how Balochistan will protect not only its people, but also its future.
