QUETTA: Terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed an under-construction house in the Khuda-i-Abadan area of Panj­gur town late on Saturday night and killed seven labourers, all hailing from Multan, police said.

The deadly attack drew immediate condemnation from President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The PM sought a report from Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti, reiterating the government’s resolve to take all possible measures to root out terrorism from the motherland.

At the time of the attack, the construction workers were sleeping in the same room of the house that they were building in Mohalla Abdul Rehman, police said, adding that the armed men opened indiscriminate fire with automatic weapons.

Automatic weapons used in the attack

“Seven labourers were killed on the spot and another was injured in the firing,” Inspector General Police Moazzam Jah Ansari told Dawn. He said they worked and lived at the under-construction house of Abu Bakr.

Soon after receiving information about the shooting, police and personnel of other law enforcement agencies rushed to the site. The victims were shifted to the district hospital.

“All the labourers who lost their lives in the firing belong to the Shujabad area of Multan district and Abu Bakr brought them to Panjgur for the construction of his house,” said Panjgur SSP Fazil Shah Bokhari.

“It is a terrorist attack,” he said, adding that investigation into the incident was in progress.

Hospital officials said, “We have received seven bodies and an injured person in the hospital.”

The victims were identified as Sajid, Shafiq, Fayyaz, Iftikhar, Salman, Khalid and Allah Wasia.

The bodies were kept in the district hospital Panjgur. All the victims sustained multiple gunshot wounds that resulted in their death, they said, adding that the injured man, who also sustained bullet wounds, was hospitalised.

Some sources said in all, there were nine labourers and one of them who was not at the house at the time of gruesome attack remained safe.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2024