An injured labourer said assailants checked labourers’ national identity cards and opened fire on them after finding out that they hailed from Punjab
Police on Sunday recovered the bullet-ridden bodies of eight labourers and recovered an injured labourer from Lasbela District of Balochistan. The nine labourers were abducted by unidentified men earlier in the day.
Though no one has claimed responsibility for the incident, a police officer requesting anonymity said, “This seems to be targeted killing,” as the victims were residents of Multan, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur and other towns of Punjab.
Police, quoting the injured labourer who was recovered, said kidnappers opened fire at the labourers after checking their national identity cards.
According to Lasbela Police, a group of armed men barged into Ali Poultry Farm in the Abbas Goth area of Hub in Lasbela District and kidnapped nine labourers.
The armed men took the labourers to a nearby area and shot them.
“The bodies of eight labourers were found dumped in a mountainous area while one labourer was found injured,” a police officer said.
The dead bodies and injured were brought to JamGhulamQadirHospital for autopsy. The bodies bore multiple marks of bullets.
Balochistan is a sparsely populated province, with rich reserves of minerals and gas.
Baloch nationalists are demanding a greater share of economic proceeds from the area, while separatist groups have unleashed a low-scale insurgency seeking complete autonomy.
They have targeted people from outside the province on several occasions in an effort to push them out of the area.
PM, OTHERS CONDEMN KILLINGS:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the killings and directed the Balochistan Government to take immediate action against those responsible.
Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif also condemned the incident and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Malik and Balochistan government spokesperson Jan Buldedi, condemning the killings, said, “Law enforcing agencies should ensure the culprits involved in this heinous crime are arrested immediately.”
These seperatists mainly hide in the mountainous areas of Balochistan, and in Afghanistan. Why doesn't the Government do an operation in the mountainous areas and also maintain an Army cantonment there? And close off the Afghan border?
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