Tragic violence: Seven workers killed in Balochistan

At least seven workers from Punjab province were killed by separatist militants in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, police said on Sunday.

The workers from Multan were shot dead late Saturday night while sleeping in an under-construction house in the Khuda-e-Abadan area of ​​Panjgur city, Balochistan’s Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari said.

Ansari said the workers were fast asleep when the armed terrorists entered the house under construction and opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons.

The official said one of the workers luckily escaped with an injury while another was not present at the time of the shooting.

The official said an investigation had been launched into the attack.

This latest attack appears to be the handiwork of the Balochistan Liberation Army as everyone has left their mark, another security official said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who immediately condemned the attack, sought a report from Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti and reiterated the government’s resolve to take all possible measures to eradicate terrorism in the motherland. President Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the attack.

In another case, gunmen kidnapped at least 20 gas company workers from a construction site near a highway in Musakhail district of Balochistan province on Sunday.

The Express Tribune newspaper reported that gunmen raided the premises of a gas company in the district and abducted 20 workers. Police and security forces have not yet commented on the incident. According to the report, the gunmen opened fire after rounding up the workers and kidnapping 20 of them before fleeing into the mountainous region near the highway.

On Saturday, a senior Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) leader Agha Khalid Shah was shot dead and his cousin injured by unidentified assailants in Quetta. This is not the first time banned separatist groups have targeted workers or civilians from other provinces.

In May, the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the killing of seven barbers in Gwadar.

In April, militants cold-bloodedly shot nine people traveling on a bus on the main road in Noshki.

(With contributions from agencies.)