Seven passengers shot dead in Balochistan's Barkhan

QUETTA: Unidentified armed attackers shot and killed at least seven passengers in the Barkhan area of Balochistan late on Tuesday night, the assistant commissioner (AC) said early on Wednesday. 

As per details, armed assailants opened fire on a passenger bus on Rakhni Main Road in Barkhan, killing seven passengers.

Deputy Commissioner Waqar Khurshid Alam said the attackers had set up a checkpoint on the road, where they stopped the bus and forcibly took the victims before executing them.

Emergency has been declared at Rakhni Hospital following the incident.

A survivor, Zeeshan, recounted the harrowing experience, revealing that his brother Adnan was taken off the bus and shot dead.

Read more: 14 passengers shot dead after being offloaded from buses in Balochistan’s Ormara

He said the assailants, armed with Kalashnikovs, checked passengers’ identity cards before executing them. He further stated that his own ID card was in English, which may have spared his life.

The victims were residents of Burewala, and the bus was en route from Quetta to Multan. Security forces have launched an investigation into the targeted killings, and law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert in the region.

On the other hand, Provincial Minister for Food Haji Noor Muhammad Khan Dummar strongly condemned the attack, stating that the terrorists targeted innocent people.

He expressed solidarity with the victims’ families and called for swift action against those responsible.