Baloch militants kill nine passengers from Punjab in southwest Pakistan
The incident took place late on Thursday on the national highway in the Sur-Dakai area of Zhob district, said Assistant Commissioner Zhob Naveed Alam.
The armed insurgents stopped two Punjab-bound buses and checked the ID cards of travellers before offloading nine passengers and shooting them dead.
"Nine people abducted from both coaches have been killed, and their bodies have been recovered," Alam said, adding that all nine belonged to different parts of the Punjab province.
The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), a banned outfit known for attacking the security forces, claimed responsibility for the gruesome murders.
"We have moved the nine bodies to the hospital for post-mortem and burial procedures," Alam said.
Security forces suspended traffic on the highway and began a large-scale search operation to locate the perpetrators.
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