Nine bus passengers were kidnapped and killed by a group of men in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials confirmed on Friday, July 11.
According to Shahid Rind, the provincial government spokesman, the passengers were abducted from multiple buses on Thursday evening. The kidnappers then took them into the nearby mountainous region, as reported by Reuters. Their IDs were checked before they were shot dead.
The bodies, bearing bullet wounds, were found in the mountains overnight, said Naveed Alam, a government official. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings so far.
Pakistani governments have long exploited the mineral rich state of Balochistan while depriving locals of even basic human rights, leading to unrest there. The latest attack seems like a retaliation for the same.
