Armed men who took over a highway in Pakistan's Balochistan province shot dead 23 people after offloading them from buses and trucks in Musakhail district on Monday. The assailants reportedly checked their identities before firing at them.
The incident happened on a highway in the Rarasham area of Musakhail. The armed men created a roadblock on a highway before stopping buses and trucks moving to and from Punjab. They checked the identities of the passengers before shooting them dead.
"The dead are reportedly from Punjab," Musakhail Assistant Commissioner Najeeb Kakar was quoted by Karachi-based newspaper Dawn. He added that assailants inspected the vehicles and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot.
The senior police official said three of the victims were from Balochistan and the rest from Punjab. "Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot," Kakar added.
Another senior official said the armed men also not only killed passengers but also killed the drivers of trucks carrying coal. At least 10 trucks were set on fire after their drivers had been killed, the official added.
Meanwhile, Reuters said a statement by the Balochistan Liberation Army group said its fighters had targeted military personnel travelling in civilian clothes, who were shot after being identified. However, Pakistan's interior ministry said the dead were civilians. The group has been fighting ethnic insurgency demanding the secession of resource-rich Balochistan from Pakistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in a statement, vowing that security forces would retaliate and bring those responsible to justice.
This isn't the first time such targeted attacks have happened in Pakistan. Last October unidentified gunmen fatally shot six labourers hailing from Punjab in Turbat in Balochistan’s Kech district. Police had then said that all victims belonged to different areas of southern Punjab, hinting that they were targeted 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 identities.
