At least 23 people have been killed in Balochistan’s Musakhel district after armed men offloaded passengers from trucks and buses early Monday morning and shot at them after checking their identities, an official said.
According to Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeeb Kakar, armed men blocked the inter-provincial highway in the Rarasham district of Musakhel and offloaded passengers from buses.
“The dead are reportedly from Punjab,” he said.
The armed men also set fire to 10 vehicles, he said.
Police and Levies officials reached the spot and began shifting the bodies to the hospital, the AC said.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti strongly condemned the incident of terrorism.
He expressed heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families of those who died in the cowardly act of terrorists, according to a statement issued from his office.
The terrorists and their facilitators will not be able to escape an exemplary end, he said, adding that the Balochistan government will pursue the terrorists.
Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar strongly condemned the brutality of the terrorists.
“The terrorists showed brutality by targeting innocent passengers near Musakhail,” he was quoted as saying in a statement on X posted by PML-N.
“The terrorists and their facilitators will not be able to escape an exemplary end,” he said.
The government expresses its heartfelt condolences to and sympathizes with the bereaved families, the statement said.
Speaking to Geo News, Punjab government spokesperson Azma Bukhari said she was angry at this development.
The Musakhel attack comes months nearly four months after a similar attack targeting people from Punjab. In April, nine passengers were offloaded from a bus near Noshki and shot dead after gunmen checked their ID cards.
In October last year, unidentified gunmen fatally shot six labourers hailing from Punjab in Turbat in Balochistan’s Kech district. According to the police, the killings were targeted. All victims belonged to different areas of southern Punjab, suggesting they had been chosen for their ethnic background.
A similar incident occurred in 2015 when gunmen killed 20 construction workers and injured three others in a pre-dawn attack on a labourers’ camp near Turbat. The victims belonged to Sindh and Punjab.
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources, such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
