LOC17:09
14:09 GMT
ISLAMABAD, April 13 (KUNA) -- At least 11 people lost their lives while four others received injuries in two separate incidents of violence in Pakistanآ’s southwestern Balochistan province, said officials on Saturday.
In the first incident of violence, at least nine people were killed when gunmen forced them off a passenger bus and shot them in Balochistan province. A senior administrative official, Deputy Commissioner Habibullah Musakhel in a statement to media said that about 10-12 gunmen blockaded the Quetta-Taftan Highway in Sultan Charhai area near Noshki district of Balochistan and abducted nine passengers from a bus.
The abducted passengers were shot dead and the bodies were found under a bridge nearby after sometime, he confirmed. All the victims hailed from eastern Punjab province.
Moreover, in a separate attack on the same highway, a car that tried to force its way through the gunmenآ’s cordon was fired upon, killing two passengers and injuring four, said police.
The in charge of the police station, SHO Mengal said that the gunmen shot at the vehicle which overturned the car killing at least two people and injuring four others. The bodies of the victims from both incidents were shifted to the nearest government run medical facility. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack and sought a report on the incident. According to a statement issued by PM House, he expressed his condolences to the victimsآ’ families saying, "We stand with the bereaved families in this hour of grief." The premier said the perpetrators of this incident of terrorism and their facilitators will be punished.
He also reaffirmed his commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the root.
The attacks came at a time when Pakistan has witnessed a rise in terror attacks especially in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces after the banned outfit Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended the ceasefire agreement with the government last year. (end)
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