QUETTA/ISLAMABAD: Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan killed at least 31 people in two separate attacks on Monday, with reports of other shootings and unrest across Balochistan, police and authorities said.
Around 23 people were fatally shot after being identified and taken from buses, trucks and vehicles in Musakhail, Balochistan, senior police official Ayub Achakzai said. The gunmen also burned 10 vehicles before fleeing the scene.
In a separate terrorist attack, gunmen killed at least 9 people, including four police personnel and five passersby, in Qalat, Balochistan, officials said. Militants also blew up a railway track in Bolan, attacked a police station in Mastung and attacked and burned vehicles in Gwadar, all districts in Balochistan. However, no casualties were reported in those terrorist attacks.
Militants often ask people for their ID cards, and then kidnap or kill those who are from outside the province. Many recent victims have come from Punjab province of Pakistan.
In April, insurgents killed 9 people following abducting them from a bus on a highway in Balochistan, and the militants also killed two people and injured six in another car they forced to stop. Banned BLA claimed responsibility for those terrorist attacks at the time.
The weakening of Balochistan means the weakening of Pakistan: Analyst Syed Muhammad Ali
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst, told The Associated Press (AP) that the latest killings of non-Baloch people are an attempt by insurgents to harm the province economically. He told the AP that most such terrorist attacks are carried out with the aim to economically weaken Balochistan, noting that “the weakening of Balochistan means the weakening of Pakistan.” Syed Muhammad Ali further said that militant attacks could hamper development work being done in Balochistan.
The terrorist attack in Musakhail came hours following the banned Baloch Liberation Army militant group warned people to stay away from highways, as they launched attacks on security forces in various areas of the province. But there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest killings in the province.
Uzma Bukhari, a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial government, condemned the latest killings on Monday, saying the “attacks are a matter of grave concern” and urging the government of Balochistan to “step up efforts to eliminate BLA terrorists.”
According to AP, authorities in Balochistan said they responded to the latest terrorist attacks on Monday and that they would provide details on their operations later in the day. Local media reported that around 12 terrorists were killed by security forces in various areas of Balochistan in the last 24 hours.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in separate statements, called the terrorist attack in Musakhail “barbaric” and pledged that those who were behind it would not escape justice. Earlier, in May, attackers fatally shot seven barbers in Gwadar, Balochistan.
Militants in Balochistan have often killed workers and others from the country’s Punjab province as part of a campaign to force them to leave Balochistan, which for years has experienced a low-level militancy. Most such previous killings have been blamed on the banned groups in the province.
