ISLAMABAD: Unidentified gunmen shot dead three migrant barbers inside their shop in Panjgur district of Pakistan’s volatile southwestern Baluchistan province, police said on Monday.
Baluchistan has in recent years witnessed a sharp increase in targeted killings of non-Baluch inhabitants, including barbers, commuters, and workers from other provinces, particularly Punjab. Ethnic Baluch separatist militants accuse non-Baluch residents of spying for the Pakistani military, against which they have waged an insurgency.
The victims of the latest incident hailed from Mirpurkhas and Jacobabad districts in southern Sindh province
“Three Sindhi barbers lost their lives in a targeted attack in Gowargo area of Panjgur district,” Muhammad Zaid, a police officer in Panjgur district, said. The gunmen arrived on a motorbike, entered the barber shop late Sunday evening, opened fire and then fled, police said.
The victims’ bodies were moved to a local hospital for post-mortem examinations before being sent to their hometowns.
Shahid Rind, Baluchistan govt spokesperson, described the attack as barbaric and intended to sow discord among provinces.
No group has claimed the attack. The separatist Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) had accepted responsibility for similar attacks in the past. BLA is the most active group in the region; it accuses outsiders of exploiting the rich resources of their province.
Last month, militants had executed seven Punjabi labourers after stopping a bus on a highway in Baluchistan and identifying where the passengers were from.
Eleven Punjabi labourers were killed after being abducted from a bus in the city of Naushki in April last year, while seven Punjabi barbers were killed a month later near Gwadar Port in the restive province.