KHUZDAR: A wave of gun violence in Balochistan left at least six people dead and seven others injured in separate incidents in Quetta, Kharan, Surab and Uthal, local police officials said on Friday.

In the deadliest attack, armed men on motorcycles barged into a hairdressing shop in Uthal town, Lasbela district, late on Friday evening and opened indiscriminate fire, killing three people and injuring two others, police said.

“The deceased have rec­eived multiple bullet inj­uries killing them on the spot,” said Atif Amir, the Lasbela SSP.

He added that the victims were identified as Muhammad Ishaq, Muhammad Asghar and Sameer Phatan.

According to police, Asg­har and Ishaq were hairdressers from Bah­a­walpur, while Sameer, a customer, was from Que­tta. The attackers fled the scene after the shooting.

Police termed the incident as ‘target killing’. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a separate incident in Quetta, two men were killed on Sariab Road after a clash between their motorcycles escalated, police said. The riders reportedly exchanged heated words before opening fire on each other, resulting in both dying at the scene.

The deceased were identified as Abdul Razaq Achakzai and Maha­rullah Langove.

In Kharan town, a man, Khuda-i-Nazar was killed while he was on his way home in an attack by armed motorcyclists.

In another attack in the Batgawaria area of Surab, five people, including tribal elder Naib Raheem Bakhsh, were injured in gun attack on their vehicle, police said.

Saleem Shahid in Quetta also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2025