The banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) on Thursday claimed responsibility for the killing of at least nine Punjabi travelers after offloading them from buses in the Loralai district of Balochistan.
In a brief statement, the militant group said they had killed the nine travelers after blocking the highway between Musakhail-Makhtar and Khajuri.
Loralai Commissioner Saadat Hussain told media the terrorists had offloaded the passengers from buses traveling from Quetta to Punjab near the Sardhaka area of the district. He confirmed they had then shot them dead after checking their identity cards.
In a statement, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind described the terrorists as “Fitna-al-Hindustan,” a term used by the state for allegedly India-funded terrorist organizations. “Terrorists killed nine innocent Pakistanis after taking them out of the buses,” he said. “The brutal killing of innocent citizens by Fitna-al-Hindustan is barbaric,” he added.
He said the terrorists had targeted three different places in Kakat, Mastung and Sur Dakai overnight.
According to Rind, security forces immediately responded to the incident but failed to nab the terrorists who fled the scene. “The terrorists escaped in the dark of the night but the forces are pursuing them,” he said, maintaining law enforcement agencies remained on high alert to safeguard the lives, property, and belongings of the public. “This is an attack on the peace and unity of Pakistan. We will foil the enemy’s plot. The enemy’s evil intentions and their hostile activities will be crushed,” he said.
The bodies of the deceased have been transported to their native towns.