Bodies of 15 killed in Turbat flown to Lahore

The bodies of 15 people who were killed near the Pak-Iran border in Balochistan a day earlier, were shifted to Lahore on Thursday for burial in their home districts in Punjab.

The victims had been killed by unknown gunmen in the Buleda Gorak area of District Kech on Wednesday. They belonged to Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and other parts of Punjab. Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti accompanied their bodies to Lahore. The funeral prayers of the victims had been offered earlier in the day in Turbat amid tight security.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, Southern Command Commander Lt-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa and other civil and military officials participated in the funeral.

After the funeral, Zehri had chaired a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation in the aftermath of recent wave of terror acts in the province.

Lt-Gen Bajwa and other senior officers also attended the meeting, during which the authorities decided to take stern action against those involved in the brutal killing. A senior administration officer who requested anonymity said that the 15 had been killed while trying to sneak into Iran through unfrequented routes.

The victims had been trying to enter Iran illegally and then proceed to Turkey to enter Greece for the sake of employment, he said.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced financial aid for the heirs of those killed in Turbat area of Balochistan. The Punjab government will provide Rs 1 million per head to the heirs of those killed there. Meanwhile, the chief minister said that the elements that killed the innocent people deserved no leniency and vowed that those involved in human-trafficking would be taken to task.

He said that Punjab Police would eliminate such fake travel agents in partnership with the FIA and both Punjab and federal governments would collectively curb this menace. He said that killing of 15 people was a tragic incident and the more it was condemned the less it would be.

Shehbaz Sharif said that all our sympathies were with the heirs and he fully shares the grief of the bereaved families.