QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen killed seven people travelling to Punjab after off-loading them from a passenger bus, in the Barkhan district late on Tuesday night.

Officials told Dawn that a group of around 40 armed men stopped several buses and other vehicles near Rakhani, on the Barkhan-Dera Ghazi Khan Highway.

“Armed men offloaded seven passengers from a coach after checking their identity cards and killed them,” Barkhan Deputy Commissioner Waqar Khurshid Alam said.

“All seven who were travelling in the coach belonged to Punjab, and were on their way to Lahore,” he said.

After disembarking them from the coach, the gunmen opened fire, killing them on the spot, he said, adding that the attackers managed to escape.

The bodies of the seven slain men were later shifted to the district headquarters hospital.

The Barkhan deputy commissioner said that FC and levies personnel had reached the site and cordoned off the area.

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.  

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025