Seven Punjabi travellers lined up and shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan

The attackers abruptly stopped a bus on a highway through Balochistan by bursting its tyres, and deboarding the bus late at night on Tuesday, reported AFP, citing government officials. 

Later, the armed men demanded to see the identity cards of passengers and forced those belonging to Punjab province to step down. Those travellers were lined up and shot dead, because they allegedly belonged to another region in Pakistan.

“The passengers belonging to Punjab province… were taken off by the terrorists and killed,” Saadat Hussain, a senior government official in the area, told AFP. “Later, they were lined up and shot dead,” Hussain added.

All seven victims were from central Punjab province, deputy commissioner Waqar Khurshid Alam, a senior administrative official, told Reuters.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan terror attack

A few days ago, a terrorist attack killed nearly eight to ten people in Balochistan when terrorists targeted a vehicle with an explosive device.

The bomb blast occurred when a truck carrying workers in the Harnai area of Balochistan province reached the mining site on February 14. According to an AFP report, the IED device was planted on the roadside, and exploded when a truck carrying coal miners reached the site.

Violence in Balochistan

Balochistan is a mineral-rich province in Pakistan which is struggling with sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence for decades. The region shares Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and Iran.

The region is facing several other issues like state repression, enforced disappearances, and even extrajudicial killings of activists, scholars and civilians.

According to ANI, because of frequent cases of violence, killings and abduction amid insurgency, the region suffers from economic neglect and is one of the least developed regions of Pakistan. It also lacks basic infrastructure and has limited political autonomy.