The Pakistan flag.
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Karachi: At least 11 people, nine of them from Punjab province, were shot dead by militants in Pakistan's restive Balochistan in two separate incidents, authorities said on Saturday, as the region witnessed a surge in terror attacks in recent days.
Nine of the deceased were travelling in a bus on the National Highway from Quetta to Taftan when they were stopped by unknown militants, who pulled them out of the bus and killed them later, an official said.
“The bodies of these nine men were later found with bullet wounds in the nearby mountainous areas near a bridge,” he said.
“The bus was going from Quetta to Taftan when armed men stopped it and after identifying passengers took the nine men to the mountainous areas,” he added.
The victims were from Wazirabad, Mandi Bahauddin, and Gujranwala in Punjab province.
In a separate incident, a car was fired upon on the same highway in which two passengers were killed and two others injured.
Condemning the attacks, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought a report of the incident from authorities.
He also expressed condolences over the deaths and said that the terrorists and their facilitators will be brought to justice.
Balochistan’s Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said that the terrorists involved in the killing of the 11 people on the Noshki highway would not be forgiven and hunted down soon.
Bugti that the terrorists involved in the attacks would be chased, adding that they aimed to sabotage the peace of Balochistan.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the incident, saying that the government stands with the families of the deceased at this time.
"There is no room for such a tragic incident...," he added.
No outfit has claimed responsibility for the killings but in recent weeks this year, there has been a surge in terror attacks by banned outfits and terrorists in the province in which security forces and installations have also been brazenly targeted.
The banned Balochistan Liberation Army has claimed to have carried out three major terror strikes in the province in recent weeks in Mach town, Gwadar port and a naval base in Turbat in which security forces killed some 17 militants.
Pakistan has been blaming Afghanistan for sheltering Pakistani Taliban terrorists, a charge dismissed by Kabul's Taliban regime.