QUETTA: At least 14 people were shot dead after being offloaded from a passenger bus on Makran Coastal Highway early on Thursday, Levies sources said.
According to Levies sources, around 15 unidentified armed men in camouflage uniform stopped five or six buses travelling between Karachi and Gwadar.
In the Buzi Top area, between around 1am, the gunmen halted path of all the buses and checked the identity cards of passengers, offloaded about 16 of them, the Levies sources said.
The miscreants opened fire on 14 people killing them on the spot, however, two passengers managed to escape from the scene and made it to the nearest Levies check-post.
A heavy contingent of Levies and other security personnel reached the spot and started an investigation into the incident.
The bodies were shifted to Ormara Hospital for medico-legal formalities.
The motive behind the killings and the identity of the victims yet to be ascertained.
Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the dastardly act of terrorism took place in Buzi Top area of Balochistan at Makran Coastal Highway targeting innocent people.
The prime minister sought solicited report into the incident, a PM Office statement said.
He directed the authorities concerned to make every possible effort to identify and bring the perpetrators of the barbaric act to justice.
The prime minister also expressed his sympathies with the bereaved families of the victims.
Meanwhile, reacting to the attack, Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry stated that recent terrorist attacks seem to be conducted under a planned pattern. “First Hazara attack, then Hayatabad incident and now coastal highway incident. A planned pattern seems to be working behind these attacks. We have sacrificed a lot for peace. We have gained great success in the war against terrorism but the war has not ended yet,” he wrote.
ہزارہ پر حملہ، پھرحیات آباد میں TTP اور پھر آج کوسٹل ہائ وے کا بہیمانہ واقعہ۔۔ ایک منظم پیٹرن نظرآرہا ہے، ہم نے امن کیلئے بہت قربانی دی ہے، انشااللہْ ہم ان واقعات کےذمہ داران کو مثال عبرت بنا دیں گے، ہم نے دہشتگردی کی جنگ میں بڑی کامیابیاں حاصل کی ہیںلیکن جنگ ابھی ختم نہیں ہوئ
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 18, 2019
