7 killed as passengers were shot after being taken off a bus in Pakistan

Last Updated on February 20, 2025 6:21 am

Seven bus passengers were killed in an attack by gunmen in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday. The attack took place in the Barkhan area of ​​Balochistan province.

A senior local administrative official, Khurshid Alam, told Reuters that about 40 unidentified gunmen stopped several buses and started checking the identity cards of passengers. Then, seven people were forced off the buses and shot dead. All the victims were residents of central Punjab.

Assistant Commissioner of the area, Khadim Hussain, said the killings took place on a road connecting Barkhan with the southern Punjab city of Dera Ghazi Khan.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. It is not clear what the motive for the killings was. Officials told Reuters that the area had been cordoned off. But the attackers fled.

Pakistan has been waging a decades-long war against separatists in Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, demanding greater control over the region’s natural resources and governance.

Earlier on Friday, a bomb attack killed at least 11 people and wounded six others. The attack targeted a vehicle carrying coal miners.

In August, dozens of people were killed in a series of attacks by separatists in Pakistan. They targeted civilian infrastructure, civilians and police stations. In another incident, 23 people were killed in a roadside shooting after checking their identity cards.

The Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, claimed responsibility for the attack. The BLA is the largest separatist group fighting the central government. The separatists have also attacked Chinese nationals working in Balochistan.