9 bus passengers held hostage, shot dead in Pakistan's Balochistan; BLA link suspected
PTC News Desk: At least nine bus passengers were shot dead after they were held hostage in Pakistan's Balochistan on Friday.
The passengers had been kidnapped from multiple buses on Thursday evening, said the provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind. The attackers then took them into the nearby mountainous region.
Another government official, Naveed Alam, said that the bodies of the victims were discovered overnight. “Their bodies with bullet wounds were found in the mountains overnight,” he said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. However, similar incidents associated with Baloch Liberation Army have been reported in the past who execute target killing after identifying individuals hailing from eastern Punjab province.
The Baloch Liberation Army is one of the most active insurgent groups with longstanding operation in the area bordering Afghanistan and Iran, a mineral-rich region.
Ethnic Baloch militants accuse the Pakistani authorities of exploiting Balochistan’s resources to benefit the Punjab province, leading to ongoing unrest and violence.
- PTC NEWS
