Balochistan ambush: Armed men abduct and kill 9 bus passengers in restive Pakistan province

Armed men barged into several buses in Balochistan, killing nine passengers onboard after abducting them. The officials noted that the incident took place on Friday in the southwestern province of Balochistan. Provincial government spokesperson Shahid Rind told local reporters that the passengers were taken from multiple buses in the area on Thursday evening, Reuters reported.

Another Pakistani official, Naveed Alam, said that the bodies of the victims were filled with bullet wounds and found in the mountains during a search operation, which was conducted overnight. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident as of now.

It is pertinent to note that separatist Baloch militants have often been involved in similar incidents, killing passengers after identifying them as coming from the eastern Punjab province. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the strongest among the militant groups operating in the region, bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

The ethnic Baloch militants often blame authorities in Pakistan for stealing their regional resources to fund spending in Punjab province.

How Baloch civilians are struggling amid the tussle between militant groups & Pakistani authorities

During a phone call with Firstpost in May, an activist from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) emphasised that common Baloch civilians usually face the brunt of the tussle between militant groups and the Pakistani regime.

For instance, on March 29, a suicide bomber detonated himself near the rally conducted by Sardar Akhtar Mengal and other leaders of his faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) in Mastung.

According to Pakistani news outlet The Express Tribune, the rally was en route from Wadh to Quetta when the attack occurred. No casualties were reported in the blast. The demonstration was organised to protest the arrests of Balochistan Yakjehti Committee (BYC) chief organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch and other leaders. The source claimed that the attack was carried out by the Daesh terror group operating in the Khorasan province.

Not only this, but the Baloch activists and innocent civilians are also facing atrocities at the hands of the Pakistani establishment. “The ISI has employed a wide range of tactics to target Baloch activists, aiming to silence dissent and suppress the movement. These methods include: Fabricating allegations and spreading false propaganda, intimidation and harassment of activists and their families, misusing anti-terrorism laws and sedition charges to criminalise peaceful activism, etc,” the source told Firstpost.

“These actions collectively aim to dismantle the peaceful Baloch movement through fear, legal persecution, and economic strangulation,” the source furthered. In the hunger for resources, the Pakistani government willfully neglects the atrocities against people living in the resource-rich province.

With inputs from Reuters.