Gunmen robbed a bus and kidnapped and murdered several passengers in southwestern Pakistan. International news agencies reported different numbers of victims on Saturday, ranging from nine to eleven. The Pakistani police are currently hunting the perpetrators.
The attackers blocked a highway. They targeted a car that refused to stop. Two people were killed and six injured. They then stopped a bus, went inside and forced passengers to show their IDs. At least eight of them were taken. They were all believed to be people from the eastern province of Punjab, Pakistani police said at a press conference on Saturday morning. Moments later, the bodies were found under a bridge about five kilometers from the bus.
The kidnapping took place on Friday night on a highway in the Balochistan region, heading towards Iran. It is often restless in this part of the country. There are separatists who want to separate the region, which is rich in minerals, from the rest of the country. They believe that their natural resources are being stolen and that they are being marginalized. A police representative told the AFP news agency that this attack was consistent with previous attacks by the separatists. The current attack has not yet been claimed.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and offered his condolences to the relatives in a statement. It also said: “The perpetrators of this terrorist act and those who assisted them will be punished.”
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