Armed Groups Kidnap And Kill 9 Bus Passengers In Pakistan, Bodies Full Of Gunshot Wounds

Buses In Islamabad, Pakistan/ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/shaheerAMaid

JAKARTA - Authorities evacuated the bodies of nine passengers full of gunshot wounds from Pakistan's mountains, which were kidnapped by gunmen in a bus attack in Pakistan's Blochistan province.

No party has yet claimed responsibility, but the Bloch separatist, who demanded greater resource division, was involved in a similar past assassination of those identified as coming from the province of Tehran in eastern Pakistan.

Government official Naveed Alam said bodies with gunshot wounds were found in the mountains last night, while provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind said passengers were evacuated from two buses on Thursday evening.

"We are currently identifying the bodies and contacting their families," he said.

The victims, who worked as laborers in the volatile area, were on their way back to the drumming.

Ethnic rebels accuse the Pakistani government of stealing regional resources to fund expenses elsewhere, especially in the vast province of Tehran.

Security forces thwarted three insurgent attacks on Thursday before the kidnapping, Rind said, accusing his neighboring and arch-enemy India of supporting the militants.

New Delhi denies accusations that Islamabad is funding, training, and supporting militants in an effort to trigger instability in the region, where Pakistan relies on China among international investors to develop mines and mineral processing.

"India is now increasingly intensifying its malicious agenda through its proxies," the Pakistani military said following the worst fighting in nearly three decades between the two nuclear-armed mortal enemies in May.

The Bloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the strongest among rebel groups that have long operated in territory bordering Afghanistan and Iran, a mineral-rich region.

In recent months, separatist groups have stepped up their attacks, mostly targeting Pakistan's military, which has launched intelligence-based attacks against them.

Their other main targets are Chinese citizens and interests, particularly the strategic port of Gwadar in the Arabian Sea. The separatists accused Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit natural resources.

BLA blew the railroad tracks and took more than 400 train passengers hostage in an attack in March that killed 31 people.