At least 22 persons were shot and killed on Monday in southwest Pakistan by gunmen who had forced them out of cars and verified their ethnicity, according to government sources.
The assault took place early on Monday in the poor region of Balochistan’s Musakhail district, where security forces are combating separatist, ethnic, and sectarian unrest.
“At least 22 people were killed and 5 injured when militants stopped several busses, trucks and vans on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan,” Najibullah Kakar, a senior official in Musakhail, told AFP.
“Vehicles traveling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from were identified and shot,” he added.
He claimed that three Baloch people and nineteen Punjabis—mostly laborers—had died.
Another high-ranking district official, Hameed Zehri, verified the casualty toll to AFP.
“It seems that the BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) terrorists are behind the incident,” he stated.
The region’s most active militant separatist group is the Baloch Liberation Army.
Even though Balochistan has a wealth of undeveloped natural resources, it is the largest and poorest province in Pakistan.
