Gunmen ambush passenger bus in Pakistan, killing 14 – local officials

18 Apr, 2019 06:32 / Updated 5 years ago

A group of gunmen stopped a bus on a highway in southwestern Pakistan before forcing passengers off and executing 14 of them, according to local officials.

While there were nearly three dozen people on the bus in total, the assailants appear to have selectively targeted their victims. Before anyone was killed, the gunmen asked for the passengers’ ID cards, it has been reported. It is still unclear if a specific ethnic or religious group was sought out.

The attackers were wearing uniforms of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, the provincial home secretary, Haider Ali, told AFP. The Frontier Corps is a provincial auxiliary force of the Pakistani government that maintains security on the borders with Iran and Afghanistan.

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Prime Minister Khan called the attack a “barbaric” act and urged authorities to make “every possible effort” to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice.

A group of ethnic minority Baluch separatists later claimed responsibility for the deadly assault. The separatists have been waging a low-level insurgency, and often target security services and people from Punjab.

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