QUETTA: As many as 23 Punjabi passengers were killed by unidentified armed men on an inter-provincial highway in Musakhail area of Balochistan during last night.
According to police, the passengers were offloaded from their buses and trucks and were then shot dead in execution style in Rarasham area of Musakhail after checking their ID cards. The gunmen also took awat with them 13 of the passengers.
A local police officer told the media men that the gunmen blocked the highway and stopped the buses and trucks. All the dead passengers belonged to different areas of Punjab, SSP Ayub Achakzai said.
The police officer further informed that the attackers also set on fire 24 vehicles which included two cars, six trucks, 10 Mazdas, four pick-ups and two vans.
Personnel of FC, police and Levies shifted the bodies to a local hospital.
Police official further said that they have launched a probe into the gruesome incident.
Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeebullah Kakar said that armed men blocked the inter-provincial highway in the Rarasham area and offloaded passengers from buses and trucks. He said the dead were mostly identified as belonging to Punjab.
The buses, vans and trucks were stopped one after the other on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan, Najibullah Kakar told media. “The numbers of the militants were between 30 to 40. They stopped 24 vehicles,” he said and added “Vehicles traveling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot.”
