KALAT, MAR 22: Four labourers from Punjab were shot dead by unknown assailants in Balochistan’s Kalat district on Saturday, according to the deputy commissioner (DC).
A statement from Kalat DC retired Captain Jamil Baloch said “unknown assailants opened fire and killed four laborers” in the Malangzai area of Kalat’s Mangochar city around 2:30pm.
It said there was one survivor and the five individuals, residents of Sadiqabad, were working as borewell drillers. The DC added that Levies personnel reached the site and the bodies were taken to Rural Health Centre Mande Haji for medical examination.
“Further investigation is under way and FIR (first information report) will be lodged against those responsible,” the DC said.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The development comes amid a tense security situation prevailing in the province after last week’s terrorist hijacking of the Jaffar Express train in Bolan district.
Last month, unidentified gunmen killed seven people travelling to Punjab after off-loading them from a passenger bus in the Barkhan district.
Balochistan has witnessed a spate of attacks targeting those hailing from Punjab. In two separate incidents in April 2024, nine people were killed after being forced off a bus near Noshki, while two labourers from Punjab were shot in Kech.
In May last year, seven barbers from Punjab were shot dead near Gwadar, while August saw 23 travellers offloaded from trucks and buses and shot in the Musakhail district. In September, terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed an under-construction house in the Khuda-i-Abadan area of Panjgur town and killed seven labourers, all hailing from Multan.
In October 2023, unidentified gunmen fatally shot six labourers hailing from Punjab in Turbat in Kech district. According to the police, the killings were targeted. All victims belonged to different areas of southern Punjab, suggesting they had been chosen for their ethnic background.
In 2019, gunmen stopped a bus near Ormara near Gwadar district, and shot dead 14 people, including personnel of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guards, after checking their CNICs.
A similar incident occurred in 2015 when gunmen killed 20 construction workers and injured three others in a pre-dawn attack on a labourers’ camp near Turbat. The victims belonged to Sindh and Punjab.
