Gunmen shot and killed nine men after kidnapping them from a bus in Pakistan’s southwest, a troubled province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, officials said on Saturday.
The separatist militant group Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Friday night.
In a statement sent to a Reuters reporter, it said the victims were intelligence officers, but authorities denied this and said they were laborers bound for Iran.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killings.
Separatist Baluch rebel groups in the mineral-rich region have fought the state for decades, saying it denies them a share of the region’s resources.
Police officer Abdullah Mengal said gunmen intercepted a bus bound for Iran in the Noshki district and after identifying the nine men as coming from the eastern province of Punjab, they They take away. “All of them are going to Taftan,” he said.
He said the victim was shot at close range. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found an hour and a half later under a bridge, said Deputy District Commissioner Habibullah Musakhail.
Rebels have previously claimed responsibility for similar killings in the area, which is home to the Gwadar deep-water port being developed by neighboring China. The rebels also targeted Chinese citizens and their interests.
Beijing has invested heavily in regional development projects as part of its $65 billion commitment to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
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