(Web Desk Monitoring) — In Balochistan’s Musakhel district, a targeted attack by armed men claimed the lives of at least 23 individuals from Punjab.
The assailants intercepted trucks and buses on the Rarasham inter-provincial highway, forcibly offloaded the passengers, and executed them after verifying their identities, according to Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeeb Kakar.
The attackers also set fire to 10 vehicles at the scene. Authorities, including police and Levies officials, responded swiftly, transporting the bodies to a nearby hospital.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti condemned the attack, expressing profound sympathy and condolences to the victims’ families. He vowed that those responsible would face severe consequences, assuring that the provincial government would vigorously pursue the perpetrators.
This attack is part of a disturbing trend of targeted violence against individuals from Punjab in Balochistan. In April, gunmen in Noshki similarly targeted and killed nine Punjabi passengers after checking their ID cards. Additionally, six Punjabi laborers were fatally shot in Turbat in October of the previous year, and in 2015, 20 construction workers were killed in a pre-dawn assault on a labor camp near Turbat.
