Armed men halted two passenger coaches travelling from Quetta to Lahore on Thursday night in the Sardhaka area, between the Zhob and Loralai districts of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. After checking identity cards, the assailants abducted nine travellers from Punjab and later shot them dead; officials said the bullet-ridden bodies were found in nearby mountains early Friday. The separatist Baloch Liberation Front said it carried out the killings, accusing the victims of spying for Pakistani intelligence. Provincial spokesman Shahid Rind instead blamed what he termed India-backed proxies, reflecting Islamabad’s long-running allegations of external support for the insurgency. Similar attacks have repeatedly targeted non-Baloch workers and travellers in the mineral-rich but restive region. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti condemned the “barbaric” shootings and directed security forces to hunt down the perpetrators. Police have opened a terrorism case, and security patrols along the Quetta–Dera Ghazi Khan highway have been intensified as investigators work to identify any accomplices.
بلوچستان میں پنجاب سے تعلق رکھنے والے 9 مسافر قتل .. دہشت گردوں نے 2 بسیں روک کر شناختی کارڈ دیکھے #ARYNews https://t.co/TblJbwSha0
Pakistan says armed men kidnap, kill nine bus passengers in restive province https://t.co/81I8n46Vuj https://t.co/81I8n46Vuj
بلوچستان میں دہشتگردی کے واقعات میں بھارتی پراکسیز ملوث ہیں: پاکستان https://t.co/BQvV2fMEPB