LORALAI: As many as 23 Punjabi passengers were massacred by unidentified armed men on an inter-provincial highway in Musakhail area of Balochistan during last night.
According to police, the passengers were offloaded from their buses and trucks and were then shot dead in execution style in Rarasham area of Musakhail after checking their ID cards. The gunmen also took awat with them 13 of the passengers.
A local police officer told the media men that the gunmen blocked the highway and stopped the buses and trucks. All the dead passengers belonged to different areas of Punjab, SSP Ayub Achakzai said.
The police officer further informed that the attackers also set on fire 24 vehicles which included two cars, six trucks, 10 Mazdas, four pick-ups and two vans.
Personnel of FC, police and Levies shifted the bodies to a local hospital.
Police official further said that they have launched a probe into the gruesome incident.
Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeebullah Kakar said that armed men blocked the inter-provincial highway in the Rarasham area and offloaded passengers from buses and trucks. He said the dead were mostly identified as belonging to Punjab.
The buses, vans and trucks were stopped one after the other on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan, Najibullah Kakar told AFP. “The numbers of the militants were between 30 to 40. They stopped 24 vehicles,” he said and added “Vehicles traveling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot.”
BLA claims responsibility
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the shootings in a statement emailed to AFP. The BLA claimed that those killed were military servicemen in civilian clothes who were “identified and subsequently killed by BLA fighters”, but did not provide any evidence.
CM Bugti vows to punish terrorists, their facilitators
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti strongly condemned the incident of terrorism, expressing heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families of those who died in the cowardly act of terrorists.
The terrorists and their facilitators will not be able to escape an exemplary end, he said and added 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 Musakhel attack comes nearly four months after a similar attack targeting people from Punjab. In April, nine passengers were offloaded from a bus near Noshki and were shot dead after after gunmen checked their ID cards.
In October last year, unidentified gunmen shot dead six labourers hailing from Punjab in
Turbat.
Kalat terror victims to be laid to rest today
Ten people including five security personnel and as many civilians were martyred in a terrorist attack near Mehalbi area on national highway in Kalat last night.
According to the district administration, the dead bodies were shifted to DHQ Hospital.
Sources in the Levies Force informed that the dead included a tribal leader, four civilians, four Levies personnel and a sub-inspector.
Mass funeral prayers of seven of the victims will be offered at RTC Ground at 1:00 pm today.
According to authorities, the terrorists also stormed a toll plaza, a hotel and Prince Abdul Karim Hospital in Kalat.
Kalat Assistant Commissioner Aftab Lasi and two Levies personnel were also injured in an armed attack in the city.
Railway bridge blown up
In Bolan, unidentified miscreants blow up a railway bridge suspending rail traffic between Balochistan and Punjab and Sindh.
Six bodies were also recoevered from two areas in Balon. Two bodies were found buried under the blown-up railway bridge while four others were localted shot dead on highway neary Kolpur.
In retaliation, security forces shot dead 12 terrorists and injured many in multiple operations in different cities of Balochistan.
Mastung police station destroyed
Unidentified attackers stormed a police station in Khud Kucha area of Mastung last night and set the building on fire. The attackers also torched the record and several police vehicles.
Later, a dead body was also found near the police station.__Courtesy The Frontier Post Pakistan
