Pakistan: Baloch insurgents abduct, kill 9 they described as intelligence operatives
Balochistan
Gunmen in Pakistan's restive province of Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, killed nine men that they deemed to be Pakistani intelligence operatives, news agency Reuters reported. The attack is the latest in a series of blows being delivered to Chinese investments in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that the Baloch separatists have opposed since inception.
Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group, claimed the responsibility for the attack.
According to the news agency Reuters, the BLA claimed that those killed were intelligence operatives. But the Pakistani official line on the same is that they were simplylabourers headed to Iran.
WION could not independently verify either of the two claims.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killings.
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Balochistan bus attack: What happened?
An unspecified number of Baloch insurgent fighters intercepted an Iran-bound bus in Nushki district about 145 km from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. They abducted nine men with them after they reportedly configured that they were intelligence operatives, a claim Pakistan subsequently denied.
They were from the eastern province of Punjab, police officer Abdullah Mengal told Reuters.
"All of them were travelling to Taftan," he said, referring to the Iranian town close to border with Pakistan but about 1,600 km from Tehran.
The victims were shot at close range, he said. Their bullet-ridden bodies were found beneath a bridge after one and a half hours, said the district deputy commissioner, Habibullah Musakhail, Reuters reported.
Also watch |Gravitas: Pakistan's Balochistan problem: Why BLA targets China's CPEC projects
The insurgents have previously claimed responsibility for similar killings in the region, which is home to deep-water Gwadar sea port being developed by neighbouring China.
The insurgents have also targeted Chinese nationals and their interests.
China during its top leader Xi Jinping's reign has heavily invested in regional development projects as part of its $65 billion pledge under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, condemned and vehemently opposed by neighbouring powerhouse India for violation of its territorial sovereignty in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Separatist ethnic Baloch insurgent groups in the mineral-rich region have been fighting for decades against the state of Pakistan, saying it denies them their share of regional resources.
(With inputs from agencies)