Gunmen kill seven bus passengers in southwest Pakistan

19/2/2025 13:10

Unknown armed men killed seven passengers on a Lahore-bound bus in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province late on Tuesday, officials said.



The attack took place in Barkhan, a district of southwestern Balochistan. The province bordering Afghanistan and Iran is a key battleground in Pakistan's decades-long fight against separatist insurgents, who want greater autonomy and a share of the region's natural resources.



The group of around 40 armed men stopped multiple buses and vehicles, checking national identity cards before forcing the seven passengers off the bus and shooting them, deputy commissioner Waqar Khurshid Alam, a senior administrative official, told Reuters.



All seven victims were from central Punjab province, Alam said.



Khadim Hussain, assistant commissioner for the area, said the killings took place on a highway connecting Barkhan to the southern city of Dera Ghaza Khan in Punjab.



No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the motive behind the killings was unclear. Officials told Reuters that the area had been cordoned off but the attackers had escaped.



On Friday, a bomb targeting a vehicle carrying coal miners killed at least 11 people and wounded six others.