Gwadar/Khanewal   -   Unidentified gunmen shot dead seven labourers from Punjab while they were sleeping in their quarter in Gwadar in the wee hours of Thursday.

Police officials said all the seven labourers belonged to Punjab city of Khanewal. According to police, the labourers were targeted by the militants as they were sleeping in their residential quarter in Sarbandar area near Gawadar Fish Harbour Jetty. Another labourer was injured in the incident.

The deceased and the injured worked at a salon in Gwadar.

The police personnel shifted the dead bodies and the injured to a hospital in Gwadar. They had rented a small house by polling money.

Police have launched an investigation and carried out raids to arrest the culprits. Two real brothers were also among dead.

A man also sustained injuries in the attack.

The dead included Sajid, Asad, Ansar, Shan, Muqarab, Adnan, Haseeb while Arsalan, a resident of Mian Chanun in Khanewal district was injured.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has strongly condemned the terrorist incident in Gwadar, expressing deep sorrow and regret over the killing of seven innocent people in the heinous act.

Naqvi offered his heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, saying he equally shared the grief of the bereaved families.

“Beasts who play with the lives of innocent people do not deserve to be called human beings. We are committed to total elimination of the scourge of terrorism from the country,” he added.

Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, in strong terms, condemned the killing of the labourers in Gwadar, calling it “open terrorism”.

In a statement, the chief minister expressed his condolences to their families and vowed to chase the terrorists and their facilitators.

“We will chase after the perpetrators of Gwadar shooting,” Sarfaraz Bugti said, adding that there is no soft corner for the terrorists and their facilitators.

Expressing government firm resolve to bring the miscreants to task, he stressed all possible resources will be utilized to comb down the terrorists.

Government is well aware of the threat of terrorism, as the writ of the state would be enforced in any case.

“The families of martyrs will not be abandoned; the CM said adding that every single drop of the blood of Pakistanis will be accounted for.

He also expressed condolence with the bereaved families, vowing to provide all possible assistance to the bereaved families.

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also vehemently condemned the heinous murders of seven labourers.

In a statement released by the Media Cell Bilawal House, he declared the merciless slaughter of innocent labourers in Gwadar as a blatant act of terrorism. He emphasised the widespread outrage felt across the nation, including Balochistan, highlighting the collective sense of shame humanity feels in the face of such barbarism.