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Armed militants in southwestern Pakistan focused Punjabis by ordering them out of autos on a serious freeway and capturing them lifeless.
Between 30 and 40 attackers, reportedly from the Baloch Liberation Military (BLA), blocked a serious highway within the Musakhail district and intercepted buses, vans, and vehicles travelling between Punjab and Balochistan. They pressured passengers off autos, checked their identities, and shot 23 of those that recognized as Punjabi, in an assault that has shocked the nation.
Punjabis, the most important ethnic group in Pakistan, are seen as dominant within the army, which is actively engaged in combating Balochistan’s separatist factions.
“Autos travelling to and from Punjab have been inspected, and people from Punjab have been recognized and shot,” native senior police official Najeeb Kakar was quoted as saying.
The attackers additionally set fireplace to no less than 10 autos, leaving a path of destruction and panic. They stopped 22 autos on the freeway.
In a separate incident, gunmen killed no less than 9 individuals, together with 4 law enforcement officials and 5 passers-by, within the Qalat district.
The BLA, a separatist militant group energetic within the area, has claimed duty for the assault, describing it as a part of its ongoing marketing campaign in opposition to what it phrases the “occupying Pakistani army”.
“We’ve taken full management of all main highways throughout Balochistan, blocking them fully,” it added.
Earlier, the group warned civilians to keep away from highways as they intensified their operations in opposition to safety personnel within the province. Later, safety forces killed no less than 12 insurgents.
Monday’s assaults weren’t the primary of their variety, however the incident was among the many worst lately in Balochistan – a area suffering from ethnic and separatist violence. It adopted a sample of focused assaults aimed toward particular ethnic teams and authorities forces, exacerbating tensions in Pakistan’s largest however least-developed province.
A number of Western nations, together with the UK and the US, have labeled the BLA as a world terrorist organisation.
Daybreak newspaper, citing Pakistan Institute for Battle and Safety Research, reported that there have been no less than 170 militant assaults that killed 151 civilians and 114 safety personnel in Balochistan final 12 months.
Extra lately, in October final 12 months, unidentified gunmen killed six labourers from Punjab in Kech district within the southern a part of Balochistan province, in what police described as a focused assault primarily based on ethnic background.
In 2019, gunmen stopped a bus close to Ormara within the Gwadar district in Balochistan, killing 14 individuals, together with navy, air pressure, and coast guard personnel, after checking their identification playing cards.
In 2015, gunmen attacked a labourers’ camp close to Turbat in Balochistan, killing 20 development staff and injuring three others, with victims from Sindh and Punjab.
The ethnic Baloch incessantly protested within the province, accusing the authorities of utilizing extreme pressure of their efforts to fight militancy. Baloch separatists have additionally lately elevated their assaults on Pakistanis from neighbouring provinces working in Balochistan. Pakistan has 4 provinces – Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh.
“All through historical past, they [Baloch people, a unique ethno-linguistic group] have been the victims of marginalisation inside their respective nations,” in accordance with the Worldwide Affairs Overview.
Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the assault, in accordance with Radio Pakistan. “The terrorists answerable for this incident will probably be severely punished,” he mentioned.
Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, mentioned the killing of harmless individuals was “an assault on all of humanity” and demanded that the culprits be dropped at justice.
In the meantime, GeoTV reported that, because the Taliban regained management in Afghanistan in 2021, provinces adjoining to Afghanistan – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan – have skilled a rise in terrorism-related incidents.
