Armed men kidnap and kill 9 Punjab-bound passengers

At least nine passengers travelling on two Punjab-bound coaches were abducted and killed by unidentified armed men in Sur-Dakai area, on the border between Zhob and Loralai districts of Balochistan on Thursday night.

- Tariq Butt | Agencies

The incident occurred near Zhob, a town in northern Balochistan, where armed assailants intercepted passenger buses late Thursday evening, took passengers off, and shot them dead selectively after checking their identity cards.

Government official Naveed Alam said the bodies with bullet wounds were found in the mountains overnight, while a provincial government spokesman, Shahid Rind, said the passengers were seized from two buses on Thursday evening.

"Nine people abducted from both coaches have been killed, and their bodies have been recovered," said Zhob Assistant Commissioner Naveed Alam, adding that the bodies were being transported to Rakhni for dispatch to their native towns in Punjab.

The provincial government has officially confirmed that armed assailants stopped passenger coaches in Sur-Dakai, removed passengers, and selectively identified and executed nine individuals, all of whom were residents of Punjab.

The bodies were later handed over to local officials at the Balochistan-Punjab border, according to the commissioner of Dera Ghazi Khan.