GUJRAT: Of the 23 people killed in the Sunday’s Balochistan bus firing incident, four belonged to Gujranwala city, two to Toba Tek Singh villages, as many others to Khanewal and one to Dijkot in Faisalabad district.

Meanwhile, nine persons who sustained bullet wounds in the incident belonged to Gujranwala city and another is from Faisalabad.

Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Haider Sheerazi told Dawn that the bodies of the deceased persons, and those injured in the incident, would reach here by Monday midnight.

He said most of those the deceased and injured persons were residents of Affan Town locality in Sabzi Mandi police precincts.

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Sources in local police say that the deceased and the inured persons were religious tourists who were returning home after visiting sacred places in Iran, when their bus was intercepted by the armed terrorists, allegedly belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army BLA, in Lasbela district.

As per the media reports, the terrorists verified the addresses of the passengers through their identity cards and other documents, pulled those belonging to Punjab out of the bus and opened fire on them.

The deceased persons from Gujranwala include Tahir (45), Shafique (26), Zeeshan, all residents of Affan Town and Abbas (29) lived in Shadman Town locality of the city.

The injured persons include Ali (19), Nabeel (21), Azam (20), Sheheryar Abbas (25), Raza Shah (22), Asad (23), Jameel (24), Adnan (28) and Haider (22), all residents of Affan Town.

It is learnt that the deceased, Zeeshan, had been married around six months ago.

The killings have shocked the residents of Affan Town and the whole locality wears a somber look.

In April this year, at least nine persons belonging to Punjab’s Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin and Wazirabad districts were gummed down in a similar attack allegedly by the armed men of the BLA. The murdered youths were potential illegal immigrants who wanted to reach different European countries via Iran and Turkiye.

Meanwhile, two of the persons killed by the terrorists were the residents of Toba Tek Singh villages, identified as Hamza Gujjar of Chak 294 GB and Shahbaz Ahmad of Chak 319 JB.

A man identified as Talha Gujjar of Chak 294 GB was critically injured in the incident.

Similarly, two young cousins belonging to Khanewal’s Chak 41/10R, identified as Rana Ziaul Haq and Rana Muhammad Nadeem, were also killed by the terrorists.

Both were said to be goods transporters, bringing various items to Punjab from Balochistan in their mini truck, which was also set ablaze by the terrorists.

As per official sources, Ghulam Jilani, a resident of Dijkot city in Faisalabad district was also killed in the terrorist activity.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2024