23 passengers shot dead after offloading from bus in Pakistan

At least 23 people were killed in Pakistan’s Balochistan when gunmen forced them off a bus and shot them after checking their identities, a report by Dawn newspaper stated.

The assailants blocked the inter-provincial highway in Musakhel’s Rarasham district, offloading passengers from several buses, according to Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeeb Kakar.

“Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot,” Kakar was quoted saying by Dawn. He added that while three of those killed were from Balochistan, the rest were from the Punjab province.

According to Hameed Zahir, the deputy commissioner, at least 10 trucks were set on fire and their drivers were killed. Later, the police arrived at the scene and transported the bodies to a hospital.

The Balochistan Liberation Army group has said that its fighters had targeted military personnel travelling in civilian clothes, who were shot after being identified, news agency Reuters reported. The Interior Minister of Pakistan, however, has said that the victims were innocent citizens.

The attack has been condemned by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “Any kind of terrorism is not acceptable in the country,” Sharif was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

President Zardari described the brutal killing of innocent people as an assault on all humanity, condemning the terrorists as enemies of both Pakistan and humanity.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister instructed the local administration to fully support the bereaved families and provide immediate medical assistance to the injured.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti also strongly condemned the terrorist attack. He expressed deep sympathy and condolences to the victims’ families, stating that the terrorists and their facilitators would face exemplary consequences.

He assured that the Balochistan government would pursue the perpetrators.

The Musakhel attack follows a similar incident from April, where nine passengers were offloaded from a bus near Noshki and shot dead after gunmen checked their ID cards.