Islamabad, Feb. 19 (EFE).- Unidentified gunmen killed seven people travelling in a passenger bus that was going from the restive Balochistan province to Punjab province overnight, police said Wednesday.<\/p>
According to the authorities, the incident took place on the National Highway in Rarkan area in Barkhan district, where unknown militants stopped a passenger bus going from Quetta to Lahore and shot dead seven passengers.<\/p>
\u201cArmed men stopped the passenger bus on the national highway in the dark and shot dead seven passengers after taking them off the bus when they identified them,\u201d Rizwan Ullah, a police official at the Barkhan police headquarters told EFE.<\/p>
He said that the militants checked the identity cards of the passengers and took them to a nearby hill and shot them.<\/p>
\u201cThe killed passengers have been shot on the chest and head,\u201d said the official.<\/p>
The passengers shot belonged to Punjab province. The security forces reached the spot and cordoned off the area, while the dead bodies have been shifted to the district hospital, the official added.<\/p>
In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued instructions to bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible.<\/p>
\u201cThose who harm the lives and property of innocent citizens will have to pay a heavy price,\u201d the PM was quoted as saying.<\/p>
He added that the government and security forces were actively working to completely eradicate terrorism from the country.<\/p>
In recent years, Balochistan has witnessed a spate of such attacks targeting those hailing from Punjab. <\/p>
Baloch insurgents blame the central government in Islamabad for unfairly exploiting the province’s natural resources, and claim the government and the military establishment is mainly run by people from Punjab, making the province more influential than others.<\/p>
In May last year, seven barbers from Punjab were shot dead near Gwadar. In August 23 travelers were offloaded from trucks and buses and were shot dead in the Musakhail district of the province. EFE <\/p>
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