QUETTA: Three people were killed and seven others were injured as a passenger bus was fired upon in Balochistan’s Kalat, according to the provincial government spokesperson.
A statement from Shahid Rind said: “Three passengers were martyred and seven were injured in the tragic incident” when a shooting occurred on a passenger coach coming from Karachi to Quetta in Kalat’s Nemargh area.
He said the injured were being moved to the District Headquarters Hospital Kalat for treatment, adding that an emergency had been imposed at the facility.
“Security agencies, district administration and rescue teams have immediately reached the scene. Security forces have surrounded the area and a search operation is underway. Security forces are pursuing the attackers,” Rind said.
Speaking to Geo News, he said Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti had taken notice of the incident and sought a report from police and law enforcement agencies.
“Based on initial info, terrorists were sitting in ambush, they stopped the bus and then attacked. We cannot confirm the number of terrorists, but it was carried out from both sides of the road,” Rind said.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the shooting in Kalat in a statement from his office, extending his condolences and assailing Fitna-Al-Hindustan — a term the government uses for terrorist organisations in Balochistan — for targeting civilians.
“The targeting of innocent passengers by Fitna-Al-Hindustan terrorists is a very cowardly act,” he was quoted as saying. “These terrorists are hatching a heinous conspiracy to sabotage peace by targeting soft targets. With the support of the nation, we will foil these conspiracies by Indian-sponsored terrorists.”
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also condemned the incident.
“Targeting innocent passengers is a very barbaric act. Terrorists are a plague on the nation’s soil,” he said, adding that it was necessary to eliminate such elements for the country’s prosperity.
PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman said targeting innocent and defenceless civilians was a “heinous act”.
“The state must take decisive and robust action against terrorists. The entire nation and security institutions are united in the fight against terrorism … The government must bring terrorists and their facilitators to justice and deliver exemplary punishment,” she said.
PPP MNA and spokesperson Shazia Marri said such incidents went against Baloch traditions.
“Innocent and unarmed people are being killed on foreign instigation; these people do not deserve any leniency. Elements involved in terrorism in Balochistan should be dealt with firmly and decisively.
“The nation is united against the terrorists of Fitna-ul-Hindustan. The cowardly actions of terrorists are increasing; the federal and provincial governments should suppress such elements.”
The incident comes a week after at least nine passengers travelling on two Punjab-bound coaches were abducted and killed by unidentified armed men in the Sur-Dakai area, situated on the border between Balochistan’s Zhob and Loralai districts.
The government had said that Fitna-al-Hindustan had carried out attacks at three different places — Kakat, Mastung and Sur-Dakai.
The Balochistan Liberation Front, a banned outfit, later claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the group said it had killed the nine individuals after blocking the highway between Musakhail-Makhtar and Khajuri.
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 had 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. According to sources, the attackers had checked the national identity cards of all passengers and specifically targeted individuals with Punjab addresses. They also opened fire on the coaches during the abduction to prevent any escape.
In May this year, the government designated all terrorist organisations in Balochistan as Fitna-al-Hindustan.
In March, five people were killed by armed men who blocked the highway in the Kalmat area of Gwadar district, while three long-body trailers carrying urea from Gwadar port were set on fire in the Tajaban area.
In February, seven Punjab-bound passengers were offloaded from a bus and shot dead in Barkhan district. The incident came days after 12 were killed in a blast targeting a bus carrying coal miners in Harnai.
Balochistan has witnessed a spate of attacks targeting those hailing from Punjab. In two separate incidents in April 2024, nine people were killed after being forced off a bus near Noshki, while two labourers from Punjab were shot in Kech.
In May last year, seven barbers from Punjab were shot dead near Gwadar, while August saw 23 travellers offloaded from trucks and buses and shot in the Musakhail district.
The Musakhail incident was part of a flare-up of violence , where dozens of militants affiliated with the banned Balochistan Liberation Army — a separatist outfit — launched numerous attacks across Balochistan, targeting security personnel as well as civilians.
