31 killed in two separate attacks by gunmen in Pakistan’s Balochistan

At least 31 people have been killed in two separate attacks by gunmen in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, news agency AP reported.

Twenty three people were killed in Pakistan’s Balochistan when gunmen forced them off a bus and shot them after checking their identities, a report by Pakistani daily Dawn stated.

The assailants blocked the inter-provincial highway in Musakhel’s Rarasham district, offloading passengers from several buses, according to Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeeb Kakar.

“Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot,” Kakar was quoted saying by Dawn. He added that while three of those killed were from Balochistan, the rest were from the Punjab province.

According to Hameed Zahir, the deputy commissioner, at least 10 trucks were set on fire and their drivers were killed. Later, the police arrived at the scene and transported the bodies to a hospital.

In another incident, gunmen killed at least nine people, including four police officers and five passersby, in the Qalat district, news agency AP reported.

Insurgents blew up a railway track in Bolan, attacked a police station in Mastung and attacked and burned vehicles in Gwadar. All these districts fall under Balochistan. No casualties have been reported in these attacks.

Who’s behind these attacks?
According to Reuters, militant group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has taken responsibility of the killings in a statement emailed to journalists. They have also warned of many more attacks, including one on a major paramilitary base. Pakistani authorities are yet to confirm these, the news agency said.

The BLA has also said that its fighters targeted military personnel travelling in civilian clothes, who were shot after being identified, Reuters said. The Interior Minister of Pakistan, however, has said that the victims were innocent citizens.

Earlier, the BLA had warned people to stay away from highways.

‘Any kind of terrorism unacceptable in Pakistan’: PM Sharif
The attack has been condemned by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “Any kind of terrorism is not acceptable in the country,” Sharif was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

President Zardari described the brutal killing of innocent people as an assault on all humanity, condemning the terrorists as enemies of both Pakistan and humanity.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister instructed the local administration to fully support the bereaved families and provide immediate medical assistance to the injured.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti also strongly condemned the terrorist attack. He expressed deep sympathy and condolences to the victims’ families, stating that the terrorists and their facilitators would face exemplary consequences.

He assured that the Balochistan government would pursue the perpetrators.

A string of attacks

The Musakhel attack follows a similar incident from April, where nine passengers were offloaded from a bus near Noshki and shot dead after gunmen checked their ID cards.

Additionally, in October 2023, six labourers from Punjab were fatally shot in Turbat’s Kech district, targeted for their ethnic background.

In 2015, a pre-dawn attack on a labourers’ camp near Turbat resulted in 20 construction workers being killed and three injured.