Eight Pakistani workers shot dead in Iran in suspected sectarian attack

Eight Pakistani nationals were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in southeastern Iran on Saturday (April 12), in what appears to be a targeted attack in the restive province of Sistan-Baluchestan. The men were working at a car repair workshop in the Meharistan district when armed assailants entered the premises overnight, tied up the victims, and opened fire.

Iranian officials confirmed the deaths and said the victims were all from Bahawalpur in southern Punjab, Pakistan. They had been employed at the same workshop, performing tasks such as denting, painting and polishing vehicles, Dawn reported.

Five of the victims were identified by Iranian authorities as Dilshad, his son Muhammad Naeem, Jaffar, Danish and Nasir. The other three names have not been released. Police arrived at the scene after being alerted to the killings and transferred the bodies to a local hospital.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the banned Balochistan National Army (BNA), an ethnic Baloch separatist group, in a statement sent to local media outlets. The group said it had deliberately targeted the Pakistanis, though no further justification was provided.

Iranian police have launched an investigation, but no arrests have been made so far. The motive behind the attack remains unclear, though the region has witnessed repeated violence involving separatist groups, drug traffickers, and militant organisations operating along the porous Iran-Pakistan border.

This is not the first such incident in the region. A few years ago, nine Pakistani workers were killed in a similar fashion while staying at a workshop in Sistan-Baluchestan. The province, home to a Sunni Muslim ethnic minority, has long been a flashpoint for tensions with Iran’s Shia-dominated establishment.

Authorities in both Iran and Pakistan have yet to issue formal responses at the diplomatic level. The incident is likely to raise fresh concerns about cross-border violence and the safety of migrant workers in volatile regions.