QUETTA: At least nine passengers travelling on two Punjab-bound coaches were abducted and killed by unidentified armed men in Sur-Dakai area, on the border between Balochistan’s Zhob and Loralai districts, on Thursday night.
“Nine people abducted from both coaches have been killed, and their bodies have been recovered,” said Zhob Assistant Commissioner Naveed Alam, adding that the bodies were being transported to Rakhni for dispatch to their native towns in Punjab.
Shahid Rind, the Balochistan government’s spokesperson, confirmed the incident and said that Fitna al Hindustan — a term used for terrorist organisations in Balochistan — had carried out attacks at three different places — Kakat, Mastung and Sur-Dakai.
“There are reports about the kidnapping of some passengers from Sur-Dakai area,” he said, adding that security forces had launched a search operation to safely recover any remaining kidnapped passengers.
According to sources, two passenger coaches en route to Punjab were intercepted in the Sur-Dakai area near the N-70 highway, close to Dab — a place along the Loralai-Zhob border. A group of armed men had blocked the road and stopped the two vehicles.
The armed assailants boarded the coaches, checked the identity cards of passengers and forced 10 persons off the vehicles at gunpoint.
“They dragged out 10 passengers — seven from one coach and three from the other — and took them away (to an unknown place),” a surviving passenger told Levies. “I don’t know what they did to them, but I heard gunfire as we were leaving.”
After abducting the nine passengers, the assailants allowed both coaches to leave the area.
Security forces suspended traffic on the highway and began a large-scale search operation to locate the perpetrators.
According to sources, the attackers checked the CNICs of all passengers and specifically targeted individuals with Punjab addresses. They also opened fire on the coaches during the abduction to prevent any escape.
“There are reports about the killing of nine passengers who were kidnapped by the armed men,” a senior police official told Dawn.
The Balochistan Liberation Front, a banned outfit, later claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the group said they had killed the nine individuals after blocking the highway between Musakhail-Makhtar and Khajuri.
