The female members of Pakistan’s Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) on Sunday called on the international community and human rights defenders to assign a fact-finding committee to investigate the "systematic murders" of Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand Line.

On Sunday, prominent female leaders of the PTM organized an online protest--using a videoconference application--in which 65 female PTM members from various countries called on international human rights organizations to thoroughly investigate the killing of PTM leader Arif Wazir in Pakistan.

The leaders of Pakistan’s Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) on Sunday blamed the Pakistani government for the murder of Arif Wazir, who was assassinated outside his residence on Friday night (01 of May) in Wana in the Pakistani tribal belt of South Waziristan and then succumbed to his injuries in a hospital in Islamabad.

“Who are involved in these targeted and systematic murders? It is very important for Pashtun people to know them,” said Sahar Noorzai, a supporter of the PTM.

“Pakistan has changed our land into a battlefield. Even today every armed group operates under the support of the Pakistani government,” said Woranga Looni, a PTM member.

“We call on the international human rights organizations to impose sanctions on Pakistan so that Pakistan stops the killings of the Pashtuns,” said Sana Ejaz, a PTM member.

Meanwhile, PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen said that the enemies of the Pashtun people do not want the Pashtuns to have equal rights in Pakistan like other ethnicities.

“There is a need for accountability when it comes to the killing of the Pashtuns over the past 14 years. The perpetrators behind the murders should be served justice, they should offer an apology to the Pashtuns,” said Gulalai Ismail, a member of the PTM.

“We members of the Pashtun Tahfuz Movement are very strong, even the death of our members will not deter us from our aim,” said PTM leader Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen.

According to PTM members, almost 30,000 people from the two provinces – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan – have gone missing over the past 10 years. For many, Pakistan’s army and ISI--the Pakistani intelligence agency--appear to be behind the disappearances.

However, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says the number of missing individuals is 1,532.