Quetta: Gunmen shot and killed at least 23 people in southwest Pakistan on Monday, after forcing them out of vehicles and checking their ethnicity, government officials said. The attack happened early Monday in the district of Musakhail in impoverished Balochistan province, where security forces are battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence.
The attackers burned at least 10 vehicles before fleeing the scene. "At least 23 people were killed and 5 injured when militants stopped several busses, trucks and vans on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan," Najibullah Kakar, a senior official in Musakhail said. "Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot," he added.
He said the majority of those killed were Punjabi labourers. Hameed Zehri, another senior official in the district, said: "It seems that the BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) terrorists are behind the incident". The Baloch Liberation Army is the most active militant separatist group in the region. Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but poorest province, despite an abundance of untapped natural resources.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in separate statements called the attack “barbaric” and vowed that those who were behind it would not escape justice. The attack came hours after the outlawed BLA warned people to stay away from the highways, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The separatists in Baluchistan have often killed workers and others from the country's eastern Punjab region as part of a campaign to force them to leave the province, which for years has experienced a low-level insurgency.
Most such previous killings have been blamed on the outlawed group and others demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Islamic militants also have a presence in the province. (With agency inputs)
