Mass murder in Balochistan, Pakistan, 23 bus passengers shot dead

Some armed terrorists carried out a major mass murder in neighboring Pakistan on Monday. According to media reports, in the troubled Balochistan province, unknown gunmen shot dead at least 23 people from Pakistan’s Punjab province after taking them off a bus, identifying and checking them.

The incident took place in Musakhel district of Balochistan. According to the report of Dawn newspaper, Assistant Commissioner Musakhel Najeeb Kakar said that armed men blocked the inter-provincial highway in Rarashaam district of Musakhel and forced the passengers to disembark from the buses. The deceased have been identified as residents of Punjab province.

According to PTI, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Assistant Commissioner Musakhel Najeeb Kakar said that the gunmen also set fire to 10 vehicles. Police reached the spot and shifted the bodies to the hospital.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti strongly condemned the act of terrorism. He expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families of those killed in the cowardly act of terrorists. He said that the terrorists and their helpers will not escape an exemplary end. He said that the Balochistan government will not give up pursuing the terrorists.

According to Assistant Commissioner Musakhel, the attack was carried out targeting people from Punjab. A similar attack had taken place about four months ago. In the month of April, nine passengers were deboarded from a bus near Noshki and gunmen shot them after checking their ID cards.

According to Assistant Commissioner Musakhel Najeeb Kakar, similarly, in October last year, unknown gunmen shot dead six labourers from Punjab in Turbat, Kech district of Balochistan. According to the police, this was a target killing. All the victims were from different areas of southern Punjab, which suggests that they were chosen because of their ethnic background.

A similar incident occurred in 2015, when gunmen attacked a labour camp near Turbat in the early morning, killing 20 construction workers and injuring three others.