Funeral prayers of Nushki terror attack victims offered

QUETTA: The funeral prayers of nine labourers, who were abducted and shot dead by unknown assailants in Balochistan’s Nushki District, were offered on Saturday, ARY News reported.

In early-hours of Saturday, about 10-12 armed assailants blockaded the Quetta-Taftan Highway N-40 in the vicinity of Sultan Charhai near Noshki.

Deputy Commissioner Habibullah Musakhel claimed that the unknown assailants checked the identity cards of passengers from the Taftan-bound bus and abducted nine of them. They were subsequently shot dead.

The bodies of the abducted passengers – who were said to be labourers – were found under a bridge nearby after an hour and a half, Musakhel added.

In a separate incident on the same highway, a car that tried to force its way through the gunmen’s cordon was fired upon, killing two passenger and injuring four.

According to the station house officer (SHO), when the car did not stop, the gunmen shot at the vehicle, bursting its tires. As a result, the vehicle overturned, killing two people.

Read More: Armed men block road near Nushki, shot dead nine bus passengers

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of the nine victims – who were from Wazirabad, Mandi Bahauddin, and Gujranwala – were offered at Police Lines. The prayers were also attended by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and high-ranking police officers.

The bodies of the Nushki terror attack victims will be sent dispatched to their native cities.

PM Shehbaz seeks report

In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the “horrible incident” of killing of passengers of a bus after their kidnapping on the National Highway-40 in District Noshki.

The prime minister expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the horrific incident and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

Seeking a report, PM Shehbaz said that they shared the grief of the bereaved families and resolved that the culprits and their facilitators involved in the incident would be given exemplary punishment. The specter of terrorism would be rooted out, he reiterated.