Pakistan gunmen kidnap and kill 14 bus passengers bound for coastal town home to China’s belt and road port
- The bus was travelling on a coastal highway from the financial hub of Karachi towards Gwadar, the Arabian Sea port town where China is building a deep water port
- Western Baluchistan province has long been plagued by violence and a stubborn insurgency. But no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack
Southwestern Baluchistan province has long been plagued by violence and a stubborn insurgency, with several separatist groups and Islamist militants operating in a region that boasts vast gas and mineral resources.
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Baluchistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove said the dead passengers had their legs and hands tied and were found close to the town of Ormara, about halfway between Karachi and Gwadar.
“Terrorists offloaded 14 persons from different buses after checking their NICs. They took them and killed them,” Langove said, referring to Pakistani national identity cards.
Langove did not specify how the passengers were selected to be kidnapped and killed or their identities.
Ethnic Baloch separatist groups say outsiders are exploiting the region’s natural wealth at the expense of local people and have previously targeted foreigners and Pakistanis from other regions. Islamist militants have also singled out minority Shiite Muslims.
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Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack and asked for an urgent report.
“PM has directed the authorities to make every possible effort to identify and to bring the perpetrators of the barbaric act to justice,” Khan’s office said in a statement.
Pakistani media reported earlier that the militants had kidnapped the passengers from a single bus, although Langove said it was from six or seven different vehicles.
