Quetta (Pakistan), February 19 . Unknown attackers killed seven passengers on a Lahore-bound bus in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The attack took place in Barkhan district.
Balochistan province, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, remains a battleground of a decades-old war between separatist insurgents and Pakistan. The separatists want more autonomy and a share in the region’s natural resources.
According to media reports, senior administrative officer Deputy Commissioner Waqar Khurshid Alam said that a group of about 40 armed men stopped several buses and vehicles, checked national identity cards and then took seven passengers off the bus and shot them.
The officer said that all the seven killed were from central Punjab province.
The region’s Assistant Commissioner Khadim Hussain said that the killings took place on the highway connecting Punjab’s southern city of Dera Gaza Khan to Barkhan.
According to media reports, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the motive behind the killings is unclear. Authorities have cordoned off the area, but the attackers managed to escape.
Earlier on Friday, at least 11 people were killed and six others injured in a bomb blast targeting a vehicle carrying coal miners.
Last August, separatist militants carried out several attacks in Pakistan, killing dozens of people. The attacks targeted police stations, infrastructure and civilians. This includes an attack on a highway in Balochistan in which gunmen killed at least 23 people after forcibly removing them from their vehicles and checking their identity.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. The BLA is the largest of several ethnic armed groups fighting the central government.
Insurgent groups have also targeted Chinese citizens and interests in Balochistan.China is developing the deep-water Gwadar seaport located in Balochistan.
Beijing has invested heavily in regional development projects as part of its $65 billion commitment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
