Unknown gunmen have killed no fewer than seven foreigners traveling on a Lahore-bound bus after forcing them off the vehicle and checking their identity documents in Pakistan.
As gathered, the group of around 40 armed men, stopped multiple buses and vehicles along a highway in Balochistan’s Barkhan district, checking national identity cards, before pulling seven passengers and shooting them to dead.
According to a senior government official, Waqar Alam, who disclosed this incident to newsmen on Wednesday, the victims were from Punjab and were transmitted to a nearby city before meeting the unfortunate bandits during their journey.
An eyewitness from the city of Faisalabad in Punjab, also confirmed this through a video shared on her social media handle, saying, Armed men dragged my elder brother from the bus after checking his identity card, but they did nothing with us,”Â
Meanwhile, the country’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif said the gunmen, who already fled the scene in fear of the security agency, would be brought to justice. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the motive behind the killings was unclear.”
Those who harm the lives and property of innocent citizens will have to pay a heavy price,” Sharif said in a statement.
Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is a key battleground in Pakistan’s fight against separatist insurgents, who want greater autonomy and a share of the region’s natural resources.
In recent months, there has been a surge in attacks on security forces, Chinese infrastructure projects, and workers from richer central Punjab province, who the militants see as exploiting Baloch resources.
The killings are a bloody reminder of a roadside attack in August when armed men shot dead 23 people after checking passenger IDs and later setting the vehicles on fire.
That attack was part of a wave of violence by separatist militants in Balochistan targeting police stations, infrastructure, and civilians. At least 73 people were killed.
