QUETTA - Unidentified gunmen late Friday stormed two passenger coaches in Mastung, killing at least 19 people.
“The attackers forced the buses to stop, abducted more than two dozen passengers, and then shot at least 19 dead,” said Ismail Ibrahim, a senior Balochistan official.
The buses were en route to Karachi when they were stormed in Mastung district, according to Akbar Harifal, deputy district commissioner.
Harifal said security forces had rescued five passengers after an exchange of fire. “Police and paramilitary have cordoned off the area and an exchange of fire is still ongoing,” he said.
“The armed men were wearing the uniforms of the security forces,” Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told Reuters. The bodies of 19 passengers had been found so far, he said.
Security officials said around 25 passengers were taken off two buses, and an operation began to find them. The bodies were discovered in nearby hills, the officials said.
“The attackers first pelted the buses with stones and then opened fire on the passengers near Mangochar area. At least 25 armed men forced their way into the buses as they came to a screeching halt. They searched, identified, and then took 20 people away to a nearby mountain range. Most of them were killed,” an eyewitness told a private TV channel.
Seeking an immediate report into the incident, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed grave concern over the loss of innocent lives in Mastung massacre.
The PM ordered the authorities concerned to take every possible measure to take the attackers to task.
Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch also strongly condemned the incident.
Earlier this month at least 43 commuters were killed on a bus in Karachi by a group that has declared allegiance to Islamic State.
All of the victims in that attack were Ismailis, but one security official said the Mastung incident was unlikely to have been a sectarian attack.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but Baloch rebels demanding greater autonomy have been waging an insurgency for years and the province is also riven by sectarian strife militant violence.
TWO TERRORISTS ARRESTED
Two terrorist suspects linked to a banned organisation were arrested and arms recovered in Quetta on Friday.
Security sources said that sensitive agencies responding on a tip-off conducted operation in the provincial capital, Quetta.
During the crackdown two suspected terrorists belonging to a defunct organisation were arrested besides recovery of arms from their possession.
Sources said that the detainees in the preliminary interrogation have made important revelations and more revelations were expected as the nabbed culprits were being interrogated.