In southwest Pakistan, a major armed attack took place where militants wielding guns intercepted buses, trucks, and cars on a highway. They forced passengers to disembark and cold-bloodedly shot 23 people on the spot while also setting fire to over 10 vehicles.
On Monday, senior police official Ayub Achakzai informed the media that on Sunday night, armed attackers blocked a highway in Musakhail district of Balochistan province, took passengers off their vehicles, checked their identity cards, and gunned them down.
Achakzai stated that the assailants set fire to at least 10 cars before fleeing the scene.
Officials also mentioned that in another attack on Monday, gunmen in Qalat area of Balochistan killed at least 9 people, including 4 police officers and 5 civilians.
There were also attacks in other parts of the province. Insurgents blew up a railway track in Bolan district, disrupting railway traffic. Gunmen also attacked a police station in Mastung district, but there were no reports of casualties.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued statements condemning the attack in Musakhail district as “barbaric” and vowed to ensure that the masterminds are brought to justice.
Later, Naqvi also condemned the massacre that occurred in Qalat.
Just hours before the Musakhail attack, the illegal militant group Baluch Liberation Army (BLA) had warned people to stay away from highways as they targeted security forces across the province. However, the organization did not claim responsibility for the nighttime bloodshed.
Separatist groups like BLA often demand identification cards from individuals, then either kidnap or kill people from Punjab and other provinces.
In May of this year, gunmen killed 7 barbers in the port city of Gwadar, Balochistan.
In April, gunmen abducted and killed 9 people on a public bus on a highway in Balochistan, also killing 2 individuals on another halted vehicle and injuring 6. At that time, BLA claimed responsibility for these attacks.
Security analyst Syed Muhammad Ali in Islamabad highlighted that several recent incidents targeted non-Baloch people, with most of these attacks aimed at economically weakening Balochistan.
He pointed out that separatist groups believe “weakening Balochistan means weakening Pakistan,” and such assaults could hinder the development efforts underway in the province.