Six killed as gunmen target 'non-local passengers' in Pakistan

At least six people have been killed in a series of 'coordinated attacks' in southwestern Pakistan, where gunmen targeted bus passengers based on their ethnicity, police said on Thursday.

“Terrorists have targeted passenger buses and security officials in multiple districts of Balochistan, killing at least five non-local passengers and a security official,” a senior provincial police official told news agency AFP on condition of anonymity.

The attackers stopped buses on major highways, identifying and singling out non-local travellers before shooting them, the official said. The militants, who operated in groups, set up makeshift checkpoints along key routes to search vehicles. Some areas were still experiencing ongoing violence at the time of the report, the source added.

No group has claimed responsibility, but Baloch separatists have recently escalated attacks against both security forces and non-local residents. Earlier this month, ethnic Baloch militants ambushed a train carrying 450 passengers, leading to a two-day siege that resulted in multiple deaths.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province, has long struggled with insurgency, as separatist groups demand greater autonomy and a larger share of the region’s resources.