Target killings: Seven labourers gunned down near Turbat

Banned outfit Baloch Liberation Front claims responsibility.

QUETTA:

At least seven labourers were killed and two others sustained injuries when a group of armed men opened fire on them in the Bulieda area of Kech district on Tuesday.

Banned outfit the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

The incident took place in the mountainous area of Kech where a private company had set up a camp for labourers who were engaged in construction of the Turbat-Buleida road.

According to the Balochistan Levies, a group of men, armed with sophisticated automatic weapons, opened fire on the labourers. Seven of them were killed on the spot, while two others received bullet wounds.

The assailants also torched the machinery and three vehicles of the private company at the site.

A BLF spokesperson Duda Baloch told reporters from an unspecified location that his organisation carried out the deadly attack and warned they would target companies that come for any construction work or exploration of oil and gas.

Earlier, talking to The Express Tribune, a security official in Turbat confirmed that the incident had taken place, but could not confirm the number of deaths.

“The incident did take place and law enforcment agencies had reached the spot,” he said.

The deceased and injured were shifted to the district headquarters hospital. The attackers, however, fled.

The victims were identified as Ahmed Khan, Bashir s/o Haleem Khan, Shah Amanullah, Zarman Den, Naseeb Khan, Sheikh Salam, Asmatullah, Rafiullah. Five of them were residents of Waziristan.

Meanwhile in a separate incident, unidentified men gunned down two persons in the Ali Khail area of Qila Saifullah. The victims have been identified as Mohammad Hussain and Shah Wali. The bodies were taken to nearby state-run hospital and handed over to relatives after legal formalities.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2012.