Gunmen massacre 37 in restive Balochistan

Karachi, August 26

Heavily-armed Baloch gunmen killed at least 37 persons in multiple attacks in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Monday.

According to government and security officials, militants belonging to outlawed separatist groups carried out four attacks on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, leading to death of 37 persons.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan army, in a statement, said 21 terrorists were also killed in cleanup operations launched after the attacks.

In the first incident, at least 23 persons from Pakistan’s Punjab province were killed in a targeted attack in Balochistan’s Musakhel district after gunmen offloaded them from buses and checked their identities.

According to Musakhail Assistant Commissioner Najeeb Kakar, around 10 heavily-armed men blocked the inter-provincial highway in the Rarasham area of the district and offloaded passengers from several buses.

“The deceased are reportedly from Punjab,” he said. Besides, some vehicles were also set on fire. Musakhel is approximately 450 km northeast of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.

Senior Superintendent of Police Ayub Khoso said: “The passengers were told to get down from buses and shot dead after being identified from ID cards,” Khoso said.

In another incident, officials said 11 persons were killed in Kalat also in Balochistan, five civilians and six security personnel, authorities said. Kalat is 150 km to the south of Quetta and is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Baloch tribes.

The banned militant organisation, Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for these attacks, which coincided with the 18th death anniversary of ethnic Baloch tribal leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who was killed in a military operation.