Armed men wearing camouflage uniforms, forcibly offloaded from buses after identification, stopped passenger buses on Makran Coastal Highway in Baluchistan’s Ormara area and isolation of persons belonged to a particular sect, isolated from rest of passengers, tied hands and feet and brutally shot down 14 to death.
This attack is reminiscing me of the similar sort of passenger buses attack which militants had undertaken back on February 28, 2012, at Kohistan and killed 18 passengers exactly in the same fashion. When I heard this news early morning, I flashed back into the same incident of Kohistan and shocked.
Since 2012 Kohistan bus attack, no perpetrator has been brought into justice so far; then, of course, series of such heinous attacks will keep on happening in future. Our security and intelligence agencies are one of the vigil and best among those of World agencies. Why then the state fails to stop and stifle such rogue elements who target the minority groups and Shia Muslims across the country.
The attack came less than a week after 21 people were killed 48 others injured in a blast in Quetta vegetable market. Pakistan cannot afford terrorism and extremism anymore. It is time the state used its iron fist by implementing the National Action Plan in its true letter and spirit to crush the militias to end the cycle of violence and massacre.
ZAHID ALI ZOHRI,
Gilgit-Baltistan, April 18.