14 killed in 3 militant-related activities in Pak on Saturday
11 civilians in Baloch, 2 soldiers and a militant in KP
KARACHI: At least 11 people, nine of them from Punjab province, were shot dead by militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan in two separate incidents, authorities said on Saturday, in the latest terror attack in the restive region.
At least nine passengers were killed in the Noshki area of the province when gunmen forced them off a bus they were travelling in and kidnapped them after verifying their Punjabi ethnicity, officials said.
“About 10-12 gunmen blockaded the Quetta-Taftan Highway, N-40, in the vicinity of Sultan Charhai near Noshki and abducted nine passengers from a bus,” according to a senior civilian official of the area, Habibullah Musakhel.
He said that the gunmen first checked the identity cards of passengers and then kidnapped only those hailing from Punjab province. Later, they killed them and dumped their bodies under a nearby bridge.
In a separate incident, two people were killed on the same highway when gunmen fired at their car after they tried to break through their cordon. One of the victims was a brother of provincial assembly member Ghulam Dastgir Badini, police said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks so far . They allege that the people from Punjab were involved in extracting the mineral wealth of Balochistan.
2 soldiers, wanted terrorist killed in encounter in KP
Two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed on Saturday during an intelligence-based operation in which a wanted terrorist was gunned down in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities said.
The security forces conducted the operation in the Buner district of the province on the reported presence of terrorists which resulted in the elimination of terrorist and ring leader Saleem alias “Rabbani” while two other militants sustained injuries in the gun battle.
Security forces of Pakistan remain determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism, the army statement said.