At least 23 people, mainly from Punjab, were killed in the Musakhel district of Balochistan early on Monday morning after armed men checked the identities of victims on buses and trucks, shooting them to death.
Musakhail Assistant Commissioner Najeeb Kakar told Dawn News that the militants blocked the inter-provincial highway in the Rarasham area of the district and discharged passengers from buses.
Furthermore, the armed men set fire to 10 vehicles in the attack.
“Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot,” said AC Kakar.
Three of the victims were from Balochistan, while the rest of them belonged to the Punjab province.
In recent years, the security situation in Balochistan has been going downhill as terrorist organisations target civilians, especially from Punjab.
A similar incident took place in Noshki almost four months ago when nine passengers from Punjab were identified, taken away and later killed by the militant Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the terrorist attack.
“The terrorists responsible for this incident will be severely punished,” the PM vowed.
Kalat Attack
At least ten people, including police and levies personnel, were killed in Balochistan’s Kalat city in a lethal attack by armed militants last night.
According to SSP Kalat Dostain Dashti, the victims include a police sub-inspector, four levies officials and five civilians.
Five Levies personnel, including the Kalat Assistant Commissioner Aftab Lasi, were among the injured.
The militants managed to escape after the brutal attack while a gunfight ensued between the police and militants last night on the national highway in Kalat and in the city.
It should be noted that August 26 marks the death anniversary of the former governor of Balochistan and the Sardar of the Bugti tribe, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who was killed during Pervez Musharraf’s era.
Dawn News reported that armed men attacked Levies and police stations in Mastung, Kalat, Pasni and Suntsar last night.
Similarly, reports of blasts and grenade attacks were also received from Sibi Panjgur, Mastung, Turbat, Bela and Quetta and the railway track linking Pakistan with Iran at the bypass area of Mastung was also blown up.
The Baloch Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the Kalat attack.
