Armed insurgents shot and killed nine passengers from Punjab after stopping a bus in Balochistan’s Zhob district on Friday, according to local authorities.
The attack occurred on the national highway in Zhob, where the bus, traveling from Quetta to Lahore, was intercepted by gunmen. According to Assistant Commissioner Zhob Naveed Alam, the attackers checked the passengers’ identity cards, selected nine individuals from Punjab, offloaded them, and then shot them dead.
“All nine victims were residents of different parts of Punjab,” Alam stated. “We have moved the nine bodies to the hospital for post-mortem and burial procedures.”
This type of targeted killing is not unprecedented. Insurgents in Balochistan have previously carried out similar attacks against passengers from Punjab and buses operating on various highways across the province.
As of now, no group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack. However, in past incidents, ethnic Baloch militant groups have been responsible for such killings targeting Punjabis.
On the same night, insurgents also launched three separate attacks in Quetta, Loralai, and Mastung. Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said that security forces successfully repulsed all three assaults.
Unconfirmed reports from local media in Balochistan indicated that insurgents carried out multiple attacks across the province during the night. These included strikes on security checkposts, government buildings, police stations, banks, and communication towers. Rind confirmed the attacks but noted that there were no reports of casualties in any of them.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, continues to experience a prolonged and violent insurgency. Militant groups in the region frequently target security forces, state institutions, and infrastructure projects, including those linked to the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The province is rich in minerals and oil and has long been the center of separatist unrest.
This year has already seen multiple such attacks. In March, five workers operating long-body trailers were shot dead in the Kalmat area near the Gwadar port. In February, insurgents offloaded and killed seven Punjabi passengers in the Barkhan district.
