At least 22 were killed after having IDs checked in Pakistan
At least 22 people have been killed by gunmen in southwest Pakistan after being forcibly removed from their vehicles and having their identities checked, according to officials.
The overnight attack occurred on a highway in Balochistan province, an area grappling with sectarian, ethnic, and separatist violence.
The attackers reportedly examined identity documents, targeting individuals from Punjab for execution before setting the vehicles on fire, officials said.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant group, claimed responsibility for the attacks in Musa Khel district.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that security forces had eliminated 12 militants during operations following the attacks, though details were sparse.
In the last 24 hours, the BLA has also carried out a series of assaults on various government installations, including police stations and security camps across the province.
In Kalat, 11 were killed – five of them security personnel – and six bodies were recovered in another district in Balochistan.
According to Najibullah Kakar, a senior local official, around 30 to 40 militants were involved in Musa Khel.
“They stopped 22 vehicles,” he told AFP news agency. “Vehicles traveling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot.”
The BLA has said it was targeting military personnel traveling in civilian clothes, according to news agency Reuters.
Before the attack, the BLA warned the Baloch public to stay away from the highway, adding that their “fight is against the occupying Pakistani military”.
“We have taken full control of all major highways across Balochistan, blocking them completely,” it added.
Mohsin Naqvi, the interior minister, said the attacks were “a well-thought-out plan to create anarchy in Pakistan”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep grief and condemnation over the terrorist attack” in a statement issued by his office.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province but, although it has more resources than other provinces, it is the least developed.
The BLA and other Baloch separatists have intensified attacks on Punjabis and Sinhdis from elsewhere in Pakistan working in the region. They have also targeted foreign energy firms they accuse of exploiting the region without sharing profits.
In a similar incident in April this year, nine passengers were offloaded from a bus in Balochistan and shot dead after their IDs were checked.
Several Western countries, including the UK and US, have designated the BLA as a global terrorist organization.
