Unidentified gunmen have killed at least seven passengers from a Lahore-bound bus in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. According to officials, the attackers stopped the bus on Tuesday night, checked the passengers’ national identity cards, and then shot them.
Geographically, Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and shares borders with Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan and Afghanistan’s Nimroz, Helmand, and Kandahar provinces. Baloch separatists have been fighting for independence from Pakistan for several decades.
For years, they have waged an armed rebellion, accusing the state of exploiting the region’s mineral resources without benefiting the local population. In recent months, attacks have increased in Balochistan, targeting Pakistan’s security forces, Chinese infrastructure projects, and migrant workers from Punjab province.
Balochistan’s senior government official, Waqar Khurshid Alam, told Reuters that a group of around 40 armed men intercepted multiple buses and vehicles on a highway in the Barkhan district. They then took seven passengers off one of the buses after checking their identity cards and shot them dead.
He confirmed that all seven victims were residents of Punjab province. A woman from Faisalabad, Punjab, shared a video message saying that the armed men checked her elder brother’s identity card, took him off the bus, and killed him. However, they did not harm the rest of the family.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the killings, and the motive behind the attack remains unclear. Officials said security forces have surrounded the area, but the attackers have fled.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, stating that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. “Those who harm innocent citizens and their property will face severe consequences,” he warned.
This incident echoes a similar attack in August last year when gunmen stopped a passenger bus on a Balochistan highway, checked identity cards, and killed at least 23 passengers.