Nine Bus Passengers Brutally Killed in Pakistan's Balochistan After Kidnapping
A wave of shock and outrage has gripped Pakistan following the horrific kidnapping and subsequent killing of nine bus passengers by armed men in the southwestern Balochistan province yesterday evening, Thursday, July 10, 2025. This brutal act starkly underscores the persistent and dire security challenges plaguing the volatile region.
The grim incident unfolded in the Sur-Dakai area, straddling the Zhob and Loralai districts of Balochistan, along a highway as multiple buses were traversing from the provincial capital, Quetta, towards Punjab province.
According to official reports, armed gunmen intercepted the passenger vehicles on Thursday evening. In a chilling display of targeted violence, the assailants meticulously checked the identity cards of passengers. Nine individuals, specifically identified as hailing from the eastern Punjab province, were then forcibly offloaded from the buses. These victims were subsequently taken a short distance away and mercilessly shot dead. Their bullet-ridden bodies were tragically discovered in the rugged mountain terrain overnight.
All nine victims were confirmed to be from various parts of Punjab, leading officials to conclude that the attackers deliberately targeted them based on their Punjabi ethnicity.
While no group has immediately claimed responsibility for this heinous attack, Pakistani officials, including President Asif Ali Zardari, have swiftly pointed fingers at the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Separatist Baloch militant groups, particularly the BLA, have a dark history of carrying out such targeted assaults against individuals from Punjab. These groups accuse Punjabis of exploiting Balochistan's rich mineral resources, fueling a long-standing insurgency in the resource-rich province that borders Afghanistan and Iran. The BLA is widely regarded as the most potent among the various rebel factions operating in the area.
The attack has drawn swift and forceful condemnation from across Pakistan's leadership. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi both denounced the killings as a "heinous act of terrorism." Prime Minister Sharif, vowing to "deal with the terrorists with full force," ominously declared that "the blood of innocent people will be avenged." He went a step further, suggesting the involvement of "India-sponsored terrorists," a serious allegation for which India has yet to issue a response. In the wake of the tragedy, security forces have immediately launched a comprehensive search operation in the affected area to track down and apprehend the perpetrators.
This latest atrocity is a grim addition to a broader surge in terrorist and militant activities across Pakistan, particularly concentrated in Balochistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Balochistan, in particular, has endured years of low-intensity insurgency, with separatist groups demanding greater autonomy and control over their vast natural resources. Disturbingly similar attacks, involving the offloading and murder of passengers, have been a recurring nightmare in Balochistan. Notably, seven Punjabi passengers were killed in the Barkhan area in February of this year, and 23 passengers met a similar fate in the Musakhel district in August last year.
The incident serves as a stark and tragic reminder of the volatile security landscape in Balochistan and the devastating human cost inflicted by entrenched ethnic and political conflicts.
