Leaders and activists of the Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) have started their "Long March" from Germany's Dusseldorf city.

Before commencing the march, participants issued an appeal to international media and human rights organisations to take note of the atrocities being committed in Balochistan by the Pakistani authorities.

In their appeal, which was read out at the Dusseldorf railway station, the participants said, "We have decided to organise this 'Long March' to highlight the ongoing Pakistani state atrocities and human rights violations in Balochistan. The aim of our march is also to inform the free born people of that there is a war going on in Balochistan, but the international community and media mostly either remains unaware of this war, or they are misled by Pakistan state sponsors into believing that everything is fine in Balochistan."

The participants said that their objective would be to highlight human rights violations being committed in Balochistan since 1948 when Pakistan occupied what they called "the sovereign state of the Baloch nation".

"This march is also aimed at showing the the other side of the Baloch story that Pakistan and its media tries conceal from the rest of the world," they added.

They requested German and other human rights activists to join the march as an expression of support and solidarity with the people of Balochistan.

More than 5000 people have been eliminated and over 20,000 people have disappeared from Balochistan in the last 15 years and not a day passes by without Baloch civilians being attacked by the Pakistani soldiers.

The participants walked for 30 kilometers from Dusseldorf to Wuppertal on Saturday, chanting slogans and giving out leaflets to the German public.

Baloch social media activists took to twitter and Facebook using hashtags #FreeBalochistanMovement #BalochFreedomMarch and #LongMarchForFreedom to share information about Pakistan state brutalities in Balochistan and sought the support of pro-freedom Baloch activists.

The Freedom Balochistan Movement is an international campaign group spreading awareness about the situation in Balochistan. It has also set up a Facebook account called www.facebook.com/freebalochistanmovement where they will be sharing regular pictures and videos of the long march.

Pro-freedom Baloch leader Hyrbyair Marri had called for this international awareness campaign, saying that the first phase will start from Germany and be followed by similar programmes in other countries.