14 bus passengers shot dead in Pakistan

At least 14 passengers were offloaded from a bus on a highway in Pakistan's Balochistan province and shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Thursday, officials said.

Around 15-20 armed assailants in camouflage uniform reportedly stopped five or six buses travelling between Karachi and Gwadar on the Makran Coastal highway, Dawn news reported.

In the Buzi Top area, the gunmen stopped one bus, checked the identity cards of passengers, then offloaded at least 14 of the 16 and shot them, the officials said.

Two passengers managed to escape the massacre and made it to the nearest checkpost. They were shifted to Ormara Hospital for treatment.

Security forces reached the site of the incident and launched an investigation.

According to Balochistan Inspector General of Police Mohsin Hassan Butt, the incident was a "targeted killing"

Prime Minster Imran Khan condemned the killings.

This is the second incident involving mass killings in Balochistan this month.

On April 12, a terror attack targeting the Hazara community in Quetta left at least 20 dead.

Similarly in 2015, armed men kidnapped about two dozen passengers from two Karachi-bound buses in Balochistan's Mastung area and killed 19 of them.

--IANS

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