Six men gunned down in Turbat

QUETTA:

Masked men on Friday gunned down at least six people, including former commander of a banned separatist organisation, in the Nasirabad area of Balochistan’s Turbat city. Separately, three bullet-riddled bodies were also recovered on the outskirts of the city.

According to Turbat’s Assistant Commissioner Hassan Jan, unknown masked men riding on motorcycles intercepted a vehicle in the troubled Nasirabad and riddled it with rapid gunfire.

“As a result all the six passengers of the car, including a former militant commander, his brother and four gunmen died on the spot,” he added.

Jan said that the victims were rushed to a state-run hospital after the attack, where they were identified as commander Fazal Hadir, his brother Ubaid, and gunmen Bahar, Waheed and Haroon. “However, the sixth victim could not be identified,” he said.

Sources in the Balochistan Levies said the incident might be a result of internal conflict, as all the six people were erstwhile members of a banned outfit and had parted ways with it.

Bullet-riddled corpses

Balochistan Levies also recovered three bodies found dumped in Turbat’s desolated Hoshap area. Talking to The Express Tribune, Levies official Abdul Qadeer said some passers-by had spotted the bodies and informed the Levies.

“Levies personnel rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. The victims were shot in the head and chest to ensure their instant death,” he said, adding that the bodies could not be identified immediately.

He said the law enforcing agencies have launched an investigation into the incident. “They look like local Baloch and it is likely that the residents of the area will soon identify them,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2015.