Mistaken identity: Truck driver mistaken as NATO supplier killed

12 drivers gunned down since July; protesters to block highways

QUETTA: Yet another driver of a container carrying goods of the Afghan transit trade was shot dead by unknown assailants in the Shalkot area, a suburb of Quetta, on Monday.

At least 12 drivers have been gunned down so far in different areas of Balochistan over the last two months. President Balochistan Transporters’ Association Noor Ahmed Kakar claimed that the attackers believe the drivers were carrying NATO supplies across the border.

The container was on its way to Chaman from Karachi when it was stopped in Quetta. The attackers managed to flee from the scene after shooting the driver and setting the container on fire. The deceased was identified as Raza Mohammed.

All Balochistan Transporters’ Association took out a procession with the dead body and staged a demonstration outside Quetta Press Club after the incident. “Raza Mohammed was the twelfth driver to have been killed by assailants in Balochistan since July. More than 30 containers carrying goods to Chaman from Karachi have been attacked in different areas of Balochistan,” Kakar said.

“Despite the government’s tall claims, the targeted killings are taking place on a daily basis everywhere in Balochistan.”

According to police officials, the criminal gangs behind these killings want to steal goods and valuables transported by the drivers. However, those who have survived the attacks say the attackers forced the drivers out of the container before they fired. “These are targeted killings and attackers assume these containers are NATO containers carrying goods for international allied forces stationed in Afghanistan,” Kakar said.

The protesters announced that drivers will block all the highways in Balochistan if the perpetrators of these crimes are not booked immediately.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2014.