Gunmen kidnap, kill nine bus passengers in Pakistan’s Balochistan

In Pakistan’s Balochistan province, gunmen tragically killed nine bus passengers after abducting them on Thursday evening. The victims, discovered with bullet wounds in the mountains, were kidnapped from multiple buses. While no group has claimed responsibility, suspicion falls on Baloch rebels, who have previously targeted individuals from the Punjab province amid claims of resource exploitation.

Gunmen killed nine bus passengers after kidnapping them in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said on Friday.“The passengers had been kidnapped from multiple buses on Thursday evening,” news agency Reuters quoted Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind as saying.Also Read | Pakistan: BLF launches ‘Operation Baam’; 17 targets hit across BalochistanNaveed Alam, another government official, said the bodies with bullet wounds were found overnight in the mountains.While no group has claimed responsibility, Baloch rebels have in the past been involved in such incidents, killing passengers after identifying them as coming from the eastern Punjab province.The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the strongest of a number of rebel groups long operating in the area bordering Afghanistan and Iran, a mineral-rich region.They blame Pakistan authorities for “stealing” their regional resources to fund spending in Punjab province.