QUETTA: At least seven barbershop workers were shot dead in Gwadar on Thursday after unidentified assailants broke into a residential quarter near Fish Harbour Jetty in the Sardar Bandar area and opened indiscriminate fire.
The attack also injured one other labourer. The attack occurred around 3 am and the victims were killed as they slept.
Following the incident, the casualties were shifted to Gwadar Hospital and law enforcement started an investigation into the attack.
According to police sources, the deceased hailed from the Khanewal district of Punjab and had come to the coastal city for employment. They were working at a barber shop. Police identified the deceased as Sajid, Asad, Ansar, Shaan, Mukarrab, Adnan, and Hasib, while the injured was identified as Arsalan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the brutal attack in Gwadar. He offered condo-lences to the families of the victims.
“This instance of terrorism is a cowardly act by the enemies of the state and we stand in solidarity with the grieving families,” said the PM as he reiterated the state’s determination to eradicate the menace of terrorism.
Balochistan CM Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident, stating that the killing of innocent labourers is a blatant act of terrorism. He said the attackers and their facilitators will be pursued and prosecuted as per the law.
Provincial Interior Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau also condemned the Gwadar incident and called for ac-countability. He stated that the killing of innocent labourers is a cowardly act.
According to the spokesperson of the Balochistan government, efforts are being made to contact the families of the deceased individuals.
Earlier on April 13, nine would-be economic migrants from Punjab were shot dead in the Noshki district of Balochistan.
At least nine passengers were abducted from a bus and killed execution-style in the horrific attack that appeared to be motivated by ethnic hatred, police and administration officials said.
While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the sickening executions, Baloch separatist groups have carried out such targeted assaults, particularly against people from Punjab – the province they blame for the alleged exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources. –Agencies
