GWADAR: Three labourers working on a motorway project linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were gunned down by suspected militants in Hoshab, 125 kilometres north-east of Turbat, on Friday.

It was the second incident of targeted killing of labourers in the Makran region over the past week. Ten labourers were shot dead by militants last Saturday while they were working on a road project to link Pishikan and Ganz areas of Gwadar district.

According to official sources, the three labourers of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) had left the project site to purchase food from Hoshab town, but they were intercepted on the way by two armed men on a motorcycle.

The gunmen suddenly opened fire on the workers, killing one of them on the spot and leaving the two others with serious wounds.

Security forces removed them to the Turbat district hospital, but both of them died from multiple bullet wounds.

The dead labourers were working for the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) on a motorway project that is a part of the CPEC.

The three bodies were dispatched to their native towns after funeral prayers.

The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed it had carried out the killings.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2017