Baloch women have been demonstrating in Islamabad for over a month under scorching heat and monsoon rains. They demand the return of their disappeared family members and accountability from the state. They sit outside the Press Club day and night, holding pictures of missing sons, brothers and husbands—most of whom vanished during security operations in Balochistan. The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons has documented over 7,000 cases of enforced disappearances since the early 2000s, while campaigners insist the real number is closer to 18,000. Instead of being heard, the women face constant repression. Police have repeatedly broken up peaceful marches, detaining more than 200 protesters in the past weeks, including dozens of women and children. At least 40 women have been injured in baton charges and water-cannon attacks since the start of the sit-in. Many of those released report being threatened by intelligence officials warning their families back home to stop them from protesting. One woman whose two brothers disappeared said: “They tell us to go home, but where do we go when our homes are already broken.” Another declared: “If they think the heat, the rain and their violence will force us to leave, they don’t understand Baloch women.” The protest also carries the names of two leaders who have become symbols of resistance. Dr Mahrang Baloch, chief of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, has now been detained for over four months, her remand repeatedly extended by courts. Bebow Baloch was transferred mid-prison under a court order and subjected to severe torture during the move. She later staged a 10-day hunger strike in protest. Both women have endured harassment, surveillance and denial of basic rights even while in custody. Their persistence is both a plea and an indictment. It exposes a decades-long cycle of militarization, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. For the Baloch, China is a coloniser alongside Pakistan. Through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor it seizes land, builds ports and highways, and extracts resources such as copper, gold and zinc while leaving locals displaced and militarised. At the same time, U.S. politics under Donald Trump has turned Balochistan into a new resource frontier. Washington has reclassified the Baloch Liberation Army as a terrorist organisation, a move widely seen as helping Pakistan suppress dissent while opening the ground for U.S. access to mines. Pakistan’s army chief has already floated concessions to U.S. firms, including lithium, copper and rare earths. These minerals are critical to the global race for electric vehicles, semiconductors and defense technologies. In recent weeks the U.S. has announced plans to explore cooperation with Pakistan on critical minerals and hydrocarbons. Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted American interest in Reko Diq, one of the world’s largest copper-gold deposits. The Asian Development Bank has moved to provide more than $400 million to support the Barrick-run Reko Diq mine, with other multilateral lenders like IFC pledging hundreds of millions more. For Baloch communities this is not “development” but another wave of colonisation. As one activist said: “They disappear our people, then they disappear our mountains.” This sit-in in the heart of the capital has become a beacon of resistance. It shows that Baloch grievances are not only about the fate of the missing but also about defending land and minerals from foreign exploitation. Trapped between Pakistan’s army, China’s expansion and Washington’s hunger for critical resources, the Baloch women in Islamabad are making it clear that their struggle is both for justice and for sovereignty. Their defiance is a reminder that the world’s resource wars are written on Baloch bodies and Baloch soil.