Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Safaraz Bugti on Wednesday vowed the government’s “concrete response” to terrorism after seven Punjab-bound passengers were offloaded from a bus and shot dead in Barkhan district last night.
Pakistan has recently witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan. Terror attacks have increased since the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.
CM Bugti’s remarks come after last night, armed men “offloaded seven passengers from a coach after checking their identity cards and killed them”, according to Barkhan Deputy Commissioner (DC) Waqar Khurshid Alam.
In a statement today, CM Bugti condemned the “brutal killing of seven innocent passengers by terrorists”.
“The cowardly attack by enemies of peace is intolerable and a concrete response will be given,” the chief minister vowed.
Noting that terrorists were “targeting innocent and defenceless people”, he said: “We will service justice to terrorists who have martyred Pakistanis.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
DC Alam had said, “All seven who were travelling in the coach belonged to Punjab, and were on their way to Lahore.”
After disembarking them from the coach, the gunmen opened fire, killing them on the spot, he said, adding that the attackers managed to escape.
In a separate statement, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said security forces, including Frontier Corps and levies personnel, had reached the site of the incident.
“The security forces have continued their hunt of the terrorists,” Rind said.
The Barkhan DC also said that security forces had cordoned off the area after the incident. The bodies of the seven slain men were later shifted to the district headquarters hospital.
A group of around 40 armed men had stopped several buses and other vehicles near Rakhani on the Barkhan-Dera Ghazi Khan Highway, officials said.
Balochistan has witnessed a spate of attacks targeting those hailing from Punjab. In two separate incidents in April 2024, nine people were killed after being forced off a bus near Noshki, while two labourers from Punjab were shot in Kech.
In May last year, seven barbers from Punjab were shot dead near Gwadar, while August saw 23 travellers offloaded from trucks and buses and shot in the Musakhail district.
The Musakhail incident was part of a flare-up of violence, where dozens of militants affiliated with the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) — a separatist outfit — launched numerous attacks across Balochistan, targeting security personnel as well as civilians.
