At least 23 people were killed in Balochistan’s Musakhail district after armed men offloaded passengers from trucks and buses early Monday morning and shot at them after checking their identities, an official said.

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

The perpetrators stopped buses, vans, and trucks, one after the other on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan, AC Kakar told AFP.

“The numbers of the militants were between 30 to 40. They stopped 22 vehicles,” he said. “Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot.”

Those killed were reportedly from Punjab, the official said.

AC Kakar added that the armed men also set fire to 23 vehicles, including 17 trucks, two passenger vans and four pick-up vehicles.

The police and Levies officials reached the spot and began shifting the bodies to the hospital, Kakar said.

The military’s Inter Services Public Relations said that the terrorists “maliciously targeted innocent citizens, working in Balochistan to earn their livelihood”.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active militant group in the province, claimed responsibility for the attack, marking it as one of the worst shootings in the region in recent years.

This is the second attack of such nature this year. In April, nine passengers were offloaded from a bus near Balochistan’s Noshki city and shot dead after gunmen checked their ID cards.

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There were at least 170 militant attacks killing 151 civilians and 114 security personnel in Balochistan last year, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.

Similar attacks have taken place over the past few years.

In October last year, unidentified gunmen fatally shot six labourers hailing from Punjab in Turbat in Balochistan’s Kech district. According to the police, the killings were targeted. All victims belonged to different areas of southern Punjab, suggesting they had been chosen for their ethnic background.

In 2019, gunmen stopped a bus near Ormara near Gwadar district, and shot dead 14 people, including personnel of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guards, after checking their CNICs.

A similar incident occurred in 2015 when gunmen killed 20 construction workers and injured three others in a pre-dawn attack on a labourers’ camp near Turbat. The victims belonged to Sindh and Punjab.

Will bring forward facts after probe: interior minister

Security concerns have heightened after back-to-back incidents of terrorism, including several attacks across Balochistan, which have left 11, including security personnel, dead.

In response, security forces killed 12 terrorists and injured several others.

In a statement issued by his ministry on social media platform X, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi vowed to “bring forward the facts along with evidence after investigations” into the attacks.

“These destructive incidents are a conspiracy to create instability in Pakistan. The enemy wants to create anarchy in the country under a well-thought plan,” Naqvi said.

Vowing to take “every possible step” to restore law and order in Balochistan, the minister asserted: “The terrorists and their enablers would not be able to find a place to hide.”

Naqvi further said he was in contact with the Balochistan government and that effective steps were being taken to “maintain an atmosphere of peace” in the province.

“If someone thinks that by such cowardly acts, they can defeat the nation’s unwavering determination, they are mistaken,” Naqvi said.

He added that the law and order situation in Balochistan was being monitored on a regular basis.

Condemnations

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack, Radio Pakistan reported.

Expressing grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the incident, they prayed for the departed souls and condoled with the bereaved families.

President Zardari said the “brutal killing of innocent people was the killing of the entire humanity” and called for the culprits to be brought to justice.

PM Shehbaz, on the other hand, directed the local administration to fully cooperate with the bereaved families and provide medical aid to the injured. He also directed the law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident immediately.

“The terrorists behind this incident will face severe punishment,” the premier vowed, adding that any form of terrorism is unacceptable in the country.

Both the president and the prime minister expressed Pakistan’s “unwavering commitment” to eradicate the menace of terrorism.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti also strongly condemned the incident.

He expressed heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families of those who died in the cowardly act of terrorists, according to a statement issued from his office.

“The terrorists and their facilitators will not be able to escape an exemplary end”, he said, adding that the Balochistan government will pursue the terrorists.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar vehemently denounced 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 terrorists and their facilitators will not be able to escape an exemplary end,” he said.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori termed the incident worrying, saying: “No matter how much this incident is condemned, it is not enough.

“Killing passengers by offloading them from the bus is the worst kind of brutality,” he said in a statement on X.

“The elements involved in this abominable act will reach their end,” he said. “With the support of the people, the security forces will eliminate these elements soon.”

Speaking to Geo News, Punjab government spokesperson Azma Bukhari also expressed her anger over the incident.