At least nine passengers have been killed on their way to Quetta on Thursday night. Passengers were shot dead after identification.
On Thursday night, at least 9 passengers travelling on two Punjab-bound coaches were abducted and killed by unidentified men on the Sur Dakai Road, situated on the border between Balochistan’s Zhob and Loralai districts, Assistant Commissioner Naveed Alam said a day ago. All the men hailed from South Punjab.
Provincial Government spokesperson Shahid Rindh also confirmed the incident, said that Fitnail Hindustan, a term the government uses for terrorist organizations in Balochistan, had carried out attacks at three different places, Kakat, Mastum, and Surdakai. The Balochistan Liberation Front, a band out for later, claimed responsibility for the attack.
A spokesman for the group said it had killed the nine individuals after blocking the highway between Musakhail-Makhtar and Khajuri. Bodies of all nine passengers were handed over to a police political agent in the Sakhi Sarwar district of Dera Ghazi Khan to be handed over to their families.
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He said seven of the passengers had been identified, but two could not be identified due to the lack of documents. The terrorists must have taken the passenger’s identification document with them. Of the seven passengers identified, two were residents of Lodhra, while one passenger each was a resident of Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujarat, Attock, Khanewal, and Gujranwala. The country’s top leadership has strongly condemned the incident and has vowed to take action against the terrorist outfits.
“With resolve, unity, and strength, we will confront the scourge of terrorism and uproot it completely,” the prime minister said.
“The killing of innocent civilians based on Pakistani identity is an unforgivable crime,” said Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, vowing that the response would be “severe”.
“The terrorists have proven that they are not human beings, but cowardly beasts,” he said, adding that the state “would not even let these murderers hide underground.”
The chief minister added, “All networks of terrorists who are the sponsors of Fitna-al-Hindustan will be destroyed.”