QUETTA – At least nine passengers were abducted and brutally killed by terrorists after they stopped a passenger bus traveling from Quetta to Lahore.
According to official sources, the incident took place near Loralai, with additional reports of coordinated assaults in Qalat and Mastung districts. The assailants forcibly removed selected passengers from the bus after checking their National Identity Cards and later opened fire, killing them.
Assistant Commissioner Zhob, Naveed Alam, confirmed the tragic incident, stating that the bodies of the victims are being transferred to Rakhni Hospital for identification and further procedures.
Spokesperson for the Balochistan government, Shahid Rind has strongly condemned the attacks. He revealed that “Fitna-e-Hindustan” carried out three separate terror strikes in the region, which were successfully repelled by security forces.
However, in one incident, passengers traveling from Quetta to Punjab were offloaded from a bus and executed.
Rind described the incident as a continuation of past terror activities targeting innocent civilians, labeling the killings a clear act of barbarism.
He added that a general threat alert had already been issued, and travel for passenger buses on the N-70 route had been restricted due to security concerns. Despite this, a bus departed in the evening, leading to the deadly attack.
Authorities have reported that the victims hailed from various cities in Punjab.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the kidnapping and killing of bus passengers in Sardhaka area of Balochistan, vowing to avenge the blood of innocent people.
“We will deal with terrorists with full force. The blood of innocent people will be avenged,” The prime minister said in a statement issued by the PM Office.
He said that the killing of unarmed civilians was a blatant terrorism by Fitnatul Hindustan.
“With resolve, unity, and strength, we will confront the scourge of terrorism and uproot it completely,” Prime Minister Shehbaz added.
