Gunmen kill 11 people in Pakistan's Punjab in multi-attack

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Apr 2024 10:24

An administrative official in Punjab accuses "Baloch separatists" of carrying out the deadly attacks.

Pakistani soldiers deployed in Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan after a militant attack killed 14 troops in November 2023. (AFP)

Armed individuals in southwest Pakistan killed 11 people, including migrant laborers, in an attack believed to be carried out by separatist militants near Naushki in Balochistan Province.

Six gunmen intercepted a bus around 8:00 pm on Friday, checking passengers' ID cards and abducting nine workers from Punjab, local police stated.

The bodies of the abducted workers were later discovered about two kilometers from the highway, having been shot at close range.

The attackers also targeted a car belonging to a provincial parliamentarian, resulting in two deaths as the car crashed into a ditch, although the lawmaker was not in the vehicle at the time.

"Police and paramilitary forces started combing the area for the arrest of the attackers," senior Naushki district administration official Habibullah Musakhail told AFP.

"But the attackers have managed to flee the area this time," he said.

The official said the gunmen "clearly used the modus operandi of Baloch separatists" and "an investigation has been launched to confirm who was behind the attacks".

A prolonged insurgency

In Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and least developed province, ethnic separatists have been engaged in a prolonged insurgency despite the region's significant natural resource wealth.

These militants have previously targeted ethnic Punjabis and Sindhis from other parts of Pakistan, as well as foreign energy companies that they believe are exploiting the area's resources without benefiting the local population.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif characterized the attack on Friday night as an act of terrorism and said that those who aided the attackers would be held accountable and punished.

In October of the previous year, gunmen fatally shot six Punjabi laborers working on a private residence construction site.

Toward the end of last month, eight Baloch militants were killed during an attempted attack on the offices of a port crucial to China's investments in the region. The military's public relations department reported that two Pakistani soldiers lost their lives while defending against the assault.