In Balochistan’s Musakhail district, at least 23 people were killed when assailants halted trucks and buses, identified the passengers, and then opened fire on them.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s volatile province, experienced a series of violent attacks on Monday, culminating in the deaths of over 20 passengers. Armed assailants forcibly removed individuals from trucks and buses before opening fire on them after confirming their identities.
Early Monday, at least 23 people were killed in Musakhail district when attackers intercepted several vehicles on the Rarasham area highway. The attackers, after blocking the road, removed passengers and executed them, targeting mainly those from Punjab province. The assailants also torched ten vehicles. Musakhail’s assistant commissioner confirmed that the victims included three from Balochistan and the rest from Punjab.
This incident marks the second such attack this year. In April, nine passengers were similarly killed after their identity cards were checked by gunmen near Noshki city. Previous attacks include an October 2023 incident where six Punjab laborers were killed in Turbat, and a 2019 attack where 14 people, including military personnel, were killed near Ormara in Gwadar district.
In response to Monday’s attacks, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the violence. Dawn reported that twelve militants were killed and several injured after security forces countered multiple attacks across Balochistan. The attacks, claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), targeted Levies and police stations in Mastung, Kalat, Pasni, and Suntsar, causing additional damage including explosions and destruction of a railway track linking Pakistan with Iran.
In Kalat district alone, eleven people, including security personnel, were killed and six injured. Attackers also targeted the Pasni police station, setting fire to vehicles, and ransacked a police station in Suntsar, seizing weapons. In various skirmishes along the Quetta-Karachi highway, four Levies sepoys, a police sub-inspector, a tribal elder, and two civilians were reported killed, with the Kalat assistant commissioner injured but in stable condition. The highway has been closed to traffic, and local hospitals have declared an emergency.
