QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen opened fire and killed at least seven passengers in Barkhan district late on Tuesday night, confirms Barkhan Assistant Commissioner (AC) confirmed today.
The attack occurred on the National Highway in the Rarkan area. Unidentified armed men stopped a passenger bus and opened fire into the air, Khadim Hussain revealed.
The gunmen then boarded the bus, checked the passengers’ identity cards, and forcibly took seven individuals to a nearby mountain. Shortly after, gunshots were heard.
When local law enforcement agencies, including the Levies force, arrived at the scene, they discovered the bodies of the abducted passengers.
The bodies have been transported to a nearby hospital in Rakni, according to the Levies force. The deceased were residents of various cities in Punjab.
According to the bus service office, the ill-fated bus was travelling from Quetta to Faisalabad and had at least 45 passengers on board.
One passenger, Zeeshan Mustafa, a resident of Burewala travelling to Multan, reported that the assailants took his brother away after checking his identity card.
The gunmen numbered between ten and twelve, Zeeshan said, adding that all were armed with Kalashnikovs.
Authorities have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to apprehend the perpetrators. Following the incident, two-way vehicular traffic on the National Highway, which connects Punjab to Balochistan, has been suspended.
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