Gunmen kill 22 in Pakistan after stopping vehicle

Kathmandu: Gunmen have killed at least 22 people in southwest Pakistan.

The government officials said that gunmen killed people after forcing them out of vehicles and checking their ethnicity on Monday. The attack happened early in the morning in the district of Musakhail in impoverished Balochistan province, where security forces are battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence.

‘At least 22 people were killed and 5 injured when militants stopped several busses, trucks and vans on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan,’ said Najibullah Kakar, a senior official in Musakhail, told AFP. ‘Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot,’ said Kakar.

He said 19 Punjabis and 3 Baloch were killed, mostly Punjabi laborers. Hameed Zehri, another senior official in the district also confirmed the death toll to AFP. ‘It seems that the BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) terrorists are behind the incident’ said Zehri.

Likewise, The Baloch Liberation Army is the most active militant separatist group in the region. Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but poorest province, despite an abundance of untapped natural resources.

RSS/ AFP