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Armed men kidnap, kill nine bus passengers in Balochistan, BLF claims responsibility
Authorities in Pakistan have recovered the bullet-riddled bodies of nine bus passengers who were kidnapped by insurgents during a series of attacks in the mountainous southwestern province of Balochistan, officials confirmed on Friday.
The separatist Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) claimed responsibility, accusing the victims —identified as laborers — of spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies.
Baloch separatists, long demanding a larger share of regional resources, have previously targeted individuals from the eastern province of Punjab in similar killings.
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Government official Naveed Alam said the bodies were discovered overnight in the mountains, while provincial spokesman Shahid Rind confirmed that the passengers were seized from two buses Thursday evening.
'We are identifying the bodies and reaching out to their families,' Reuters quoted Rind as saying, adding that the victims, working as labourers in the restive region, were returning home to Punjab.
They include two brothers who were going to attend the funeral of their father, Alam said.
Ethnic insurgents accuse Pakistan's government of stealing regional resources to fund expenditure elsewhere, mainly in the sprawling province of Punjab.
Security forces foiled three insurgent attacks on Thursday before the kidnappings, Rind said, accusing neighbour and arch rival India of backing the militants.
The Indian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
New Delhi denies accusations by Islamabad that it is funding, training and backing the militants in a bid to stoke instability in the region, where Pakistan relies on China among international investors to develop mines and mineral processing.
'India is now doubling down to further its nefarious agenda through its proxies,' the Pakistani army said in a statement in remarks that followed the worst fighting in nearly three decades between the nuclear-armed foes in May.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the strongest among the insurgent groups long operating in the area bordering Afghanistan and Iran, a mineral-rich region.
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In recent months, separatists have stepped up their attacks, mostly targeting Pakistan's military, which has launched an intelligence-based offensive against them.
Their other main targets have been Chinese nationals and interests, in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, with the separatists accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad to exploit resources.
The BLA blew up a railway track and took over 400 train passengers hostage in an attack in March that killed 31.
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