Four labourers from Punjab were shot dead by unknown gunmen in Balochistan’s Kalat district on the afternoon of March 22, according to the deputy commissioner (DC). This happened on a day when most of the big towns and urban centres all over Balochistan had been shut down due to protests organised by the Baloch Yekjehti Committee (BYC).
A statement from Kalat DC Jamil Baloch said “unknown assailants opened fire and killed four labourers” in the Malangzai area of Kalat’s Mangochar city around 2:30pm. Shops had remained shut in Kalat and normal traffic was also off the roads when this incident of selective killing of Punjabis was carried out.
He said that there was one survivor and the five individuals, residents of Sadiqabad, were working as borewell drillers in the area. The DC added that Levies personnel reached the site and the bodies were taken to Rural Health Centre Mande Haji for necessary formalities. Once the medical examination of the bodies is conducted, they are likely to be sent home in Punjab, according to Dawn.
Incidentally, there have been several such incidents of targeting people from other provinces, including Punjab and Sindh, in Balochistan. The first such major incident had happened a decade ago in 2015 when gunmen had killed 20 construction workers and injured three others in a pre-dawn attack on a labourers’ camp near Turbat. The victims belonged to Sindh and Punjab provinces.
In most such cases, the victims are first identified by the gunmen and then targeted. This is apparently to discourage workers from other provinces, most significantly Punjab, from taking up jobs in any area of Balochistan. Such attacks are blamed on Baloch nationalists but rebel groups do not usually claim responsibility for these attacks.
Regarding Saturday’s incident of targeted killing of Punjabis, the DC said: “Further investigation is under way and FIR (first information report) will be lodged against those responsible.” No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The development comes amid a tense security situation prevailing in the province after March 11 hijacking of the Jaffar Express train in Bolan district. No such incident of hijacking of a train had ever happened in Pakistan before this one. The hijacking was significant as this particular train running from Quetta to Peshawar is used by a lot of security personnel for travelling.
During February, in a similar incident, unidentified gunmen had killed travelling to Punjab after off-loading them from a passenger bus in the Barkhan district. The unknown gunmen had then set up road blocks, checked the identity cards of passengers and then separated the Punjabis before shooting them dead.
In Balochistan, there has been a spurt in such attacks targeting people hailing from Punjab. In two separate incidents in April 2024, nine people were killed after being forced off a bus near Noshki, while two labourers from Punjab were shot in Kech.
In May last year, seven barbers from Punjab were shot dead near Gwadar. While seven of the barbers were shot dead, another man was shot in both the legs but survived. In August, at least 23 travellers were offloaded from trucks and buses and shot in the Musakhail district. Dozens of heavily armed gunmen had set up nakas in the district and they remained there for hours, carefully and leisurely choosing their victims.
In September 2024, terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed an under-construction house in the Khuda-i-Abadan area of Panjgur town and killed seven workers, all hailing from Multan in Punjab. During the year 2024, there were at least five such attacks on people from Punjab in the province.
In October 2023, unidentified gunmen fatally shot six workers hailing from Punjab in Turbat in Kech district. According to the police, the killings were targeted and the victims had been carefully chosen. All victims belonged to different areas of southern Punjab, making it a clear case of being ethnic Punjabis.
In 2019, gunmen stopped a bus near Ormara near Gwadar district, and shot dead at least 14 people, including personnel of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guards, after checking their identities. Such incidents have been happening in Balochistan with a regular monotony.
