- Victims belonging to Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala, and Wazirabad, forced off a bus after confirming their identity
- PM condemns incident, reaffirms commitment to wipe out menace of terrorism
NUSHKI: Eleven people, including nine Punjab residents, were killed near Nushki when gunmen forced them off a passenger bus at a blockade on Quetta-Taftan Highway N-40 in the vicinity of Sultan Charhai near Nushki, Balochistan in the early hours of Saturday.
Two of the slain persons were killed in a separate attack on vehicle at the same place, the security officials and district administration confirmed.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took notice of the harrowing incident and sought a report.
The first incident took place as a bus carrying passengers from Quetta to Taftan was targeted by armed assailants. Nine passengers were kidnapped from the bus after establishing their residency to be of Punjab and subsequently shot to death.
The Nushki SSP said the victims were identified and then killed, adding that they hailed from Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala, and Wazirabad cities of Punjab.
“About 10-12 gunmen blockaded the Quetta-Taftan Highway N-40 in the vicinity of Sultan Charhai near Noshki and abducted nine passengers from a bus,” Nushki Deputy Commissioner Habibullah Musakhel told the media.
The gunmen checked the identity cards of passengers from the Taftan-bound bus and kidnapped them, he added. They were subsequently shot dead.
The bodies of the abducted passengers were found under a bridge nearby after an hour and a half, Musakhel said, adding It’s unclear whether their belongings were taken.
The nine victims were from Punjab, confirmed Noshki Police SHO Asad Mengal. The victims — all men — were from Wazirabad, Mandi Bahauddin, and Gujranwala, according to identity documents”, the officer added.
In a separate attack on the same highway, a car that tried to force its way through the gunmen’s cordon was fired upon, killing one passenger and injuring four, the SHO said.
When the car did not stop, the gunmen shot at the vehicle, bursting its tires. As a result, the vehicle overturned, SHO Mengal said. Two people, which police said were locals, were killed in the second attack. One of the car’s passengers was a brother of provincial assembly member Ghulam Dastgir Badini, the SHO added.
According to the security officials, both the attacks were carried out at the same blockade.
The bodies of the victims were shifted to Quetta, Noshki Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Zafar Mengal informed the media.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad incident. He said terrorists would be dealt with iron hands and vowed that terrorists would not succeed in their nefarious designs.
He asserted that the terrorists involved in the incidents would not be spared and face the full force of the law, emphasizing that the enemies of peace are enemies of the nation itself.
Later addressing the media at Chief Minister’s House, CM Bugti said security plans would be revisited following the attack, adding that an inquiry was under way. “We are currently probing the incident, especially response times. If anyone has failed to uphold their responsibilities they will be held accountable.”
He said that the government was open to dialogue with separatists to ensure a peaceful resolution to the ongoing insurgency. “If a situation can be resolved through dialogue, then 100 per cent we are not against it,” he said. “But, the writ of the state must be and will be enforced. If they (insurgents) want to keep committing acts of violence then we will come after you.”
‘Terrorists and their facilitators will be punished’
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the incidents and expressed deep sorrow and grief over it. He prayed for the victim and expressed sympathy and condolences with their families.
He also sought a report on the incident, stressing that terrorism would be eradicated from the country. “Terrorists and their facilitators will be punished,” the PM reiterated the resolve.
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack and said the nation had “rejected the nefarious intentions” of the perpetrators.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi wasted no time in strongly condemning the incidents and expressing sorrow and grief over the heinous acts. He emphasized that such atrocities have no place in the Pakistan envisioned by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
“The killing of passengers is an inhumane act, an unforgivable crime,” he asserted, adding that the terrorists involved in the “cowardly attacks on innocent people: would be chased and eliminated.
Punjab CM Maryam condemned the Nushki and condoled with the bereaved families, saying that Pakistanis was a one nation and would stay united against the menace of terrorism.
Funeral prayers of terror victims offered
Later, the funeral prayers of nine labourers from Punjab, who were abducted and shot dead by unknown assailants in Balochistan’s Nushki District, were offered on Saturday.
The funeral was 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.
