JACOBABAD/SUKKUR, March 31: At least 14 people, including a woman and a child, were killed and 18 others were injured when a band of 25 armed men roared into Kashmor town on Monday morning in three vehicles and unleashed a barrage of rockets and indiscriminate Kalashnikov fire in a market area.

The killers took eight people as hostages before leaving the town after their 30-minute rampage which began shortly after 8am.

The identity of the killers had not been established by Monday night. Some reports described the attackers as Bugti tribesmen, and there was a feeling that the gruesome incident may not be unlinked to the old tribal feud between the Bugtis and the Mazaris, which has been going for over a decade and has taken a particularly violent turn in the past couple of months.

The attack was sudden and it has left the people of Kashmor, a town of about 75,000 on a fork connecting the three provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab, in a state of shock and anger. Protesters blocked the Indus Highway and some have pitched tents there, saying they will remain encamped there till they are assured of adequate police protection.

There appeared to be no effort on the part of the local police to intervene during the firing. The police arrived after the attackers had fled towards Balochistan through the Manger railway crossing.

One of those killed in the attack was Sohrab Khan Mazari, said to be related to one of the elders of the Mazari tribe, who had shifted from the Mazari village in Punjab to Kashmor and lived in a bungalow on the main road. He was said to be the main target of the attackers. He was sitting in a shop when the attackers came and he tried to flee towards his house, but was gunned down as he reached his gate. The attackers were said to believe that a number of Mazaris were staying with him. Later, they drove to the bus stop and the Muslim Bazaar and opened indiscriminate fire on the people.

One version was that the blood-letting was meant as a warning by outlaws operating in Balochistan-Sindh border areas to the Sindh police, which has recently been declaring its intention to launch an anti-dacoit operation.

It was a normal day and people were busy in their daily chores when all hell broke lose. The gangsters sprayed bullets and hurled rockets in all directions, targeting shops and buildings, from their vehicles. Panic and fear gripped the people as they ran to take cover.

The city later wore a deserted look as shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and people closed doors and windows of their houses. It was only after the attackers fled that the police appeared on the scene. Volunteers picked up bodies from the road and sent them in wagons to the hospital. Those injured were removed to the Kashmor Hospital which was not geared up for handling a situation of this kind. Doctors were not present nor medicines which led to the death of some of the injured due to bleeding. Hospital sources said the injured were shifted to Rahimyar Khan Hospital because there was no blood and other equipment.

Later, residents came out on the roads, closed down business and blocked the Indus Highway. They raised slogans against the Sindh government and the police for lack of security.

Strong police force from Jacobabad headed by the DIG, Sukkur Range, and the DPO, Jacobabad, reached there, to be greeted by angry slogans.

Enraged citizens burnt tyres and hurled stones on police.

Burial of the bodies was awaited and a meeting of the citizens will take decision about combined burial.

The dead included Haji Tegho Mazari, Saleh Mohammad Soomro, Jaivanti Bagri, Hussain Bukhsh Tanwri, Hairdin Jakhrani, Shaukat Ali Dasti, Noor Mohammad Mazari, Irfan Shaikh, Shahban Shaikh, Abdul Hamid Jakhrani, Haji Mawali Malik and a child, Channai Bagri.

Those injured are police head constable Mohammad Safar Abro, Khadim Hussain Golo, Haji Meherdin Mazari, Riaz Ahmed Sanjrani, Abdullah Golo, Srichand Oad, Dastagir Pathan, Rashid Ali Pathan, Saleem Tanwri, Shah Ali Kalwar, Longe Mazari, Mohammad Aslam Malik, Mohammad Hassan Chachar, Sirajuddin Sohriyani, Niaz Ahmed, Qadir Bukhsh Mirani, Sohrab Bheel, Akhtiyar Kalwar.

The persons taken as hostage are Ramchand, Mukhi Gulab Rai, Chantu Mai, Fida Hussain Channa, Mohammad Ramzan Kalwar, Imran Kalwar, Talib Hussain Soomro and Aijaz Ahmed Malik.

Most of those kidnapped are residents of the Muslim Bazaar.

Our Correspondent Nadeem Saeed from Multan adds: The attackers had stopped near the house of a Mazari tribal elder, Ghulam Hussain, in the vicinity of the Kashmor general bus stand and reportedly challenged the inmates to come out while chanting slogans about the ‘superiority’ of the Bugti tribe. Ghulam Hussain’s cousin Sohrab Khan Mazari, was outside the house. When no one came out of the house, the assailants fired at and killed Sohrab.

Later on, the attackers went on a killing spree with indiscriminate use of LMGs and rocket propelled grenades. A commuter van and a jeep were also reported to have been hit by the RPGs.

Talking to Dawn, Kashmor taluka Nazim Haji Rauf Khoso termed the incident a blatant terrorist act by Bugti tribesmen and accused the law enforcement agencies of showing cowardliness. He said the attackers entered the town after crossing RD-109 bridge over the Pat Feeder canal where two platoons of rangers were deputed while they returned through a gate where a heavy contingent of the Sindh police was “guarding” the inter-provincial border. The Nazim said his town was presenting a deserted look. He said the assailants even attacked the police station and head constable Safar Abro was injured.