Two attacks in different regions of southwestern Pakistan, have resulted in at least eight fatalities, as confirmed by police on Thursday.
Attackers specifically targeted bus travellers based on their ethnic background in one attack and assaulted security personnel.
“Terrorists have targeted passenger buses and security officials in multiple districts of Balochistan, killing at least five non-local passengers and a security official,” a senior provincial police official told AFP early Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This occurred in Pasni, a coastal area in Gwadar district, which hosts substantial Chinese infrastructure developments that draw workers from across Pakistan’s provinces. The official stated that “dozens of militants” have “stopped passenger buses and identified non-local travellers”.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued a statement declaring the attacks “a cowardly act” and “a crime against humanity”.
“Targeting travellers by identifying them is barbaric and brutal”, he further stated.
In another attack in Quetta, the provincial capital, an improvised explosive device attached to a motorcycle exploded near a police vehicle at a crowded market on Thursday afternoon.
“Two civilians were killed and 17 people wounded”, according to Muhammad Baloch, a senior police official, who spoke to AFP.
The death count was verified by Wasim Baig, spokesperson for the Sandeman Provincial Hospital in Quetta.
The killings in Balochistan remain unclaimed, though separatist groups have intensified their campaigns against security forces and non-locals in recent weeks.
For many years, Pakistan has faced a separatist rebellion in Balochistan, where militants conduct attacks against state forces, foreign citizens and non-locals in this mineral-rich province that shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
This month witnessed separatist Baloch attackers targeting a train carrying 450 passengers, leading to a two-day siege with numerous casualties. Subsequently, a suicide bombing claimed the lives of at least five paramilitaries. The Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for both incidents.