According to Najeeb Kakar, Assistant Commissioner of Musakhail, militants blocked highway in Rarasham region of the district and took passengers off the buses, trucks and vans. They killed 23 passengers and injured five. Moreover, the gunmen set fire to 10 vehicles on the highway. Later, the police and health authorities reached at the spot and took bodies to a nearby hospital.

“The terrorists get on the vehicles and checked the identities of the passengers, then unloaded and shot those from the eastern Punjab province of Pakistan,” sources said, according to local media.

There is no information yet about who carried out the attack and no group has claimed responsibility.

A similar incident occurred in the country in April when 9 travelers were killed after their ID cards had been checked in Baluchistan’s Noshki district.

The tragic event drew condemnation from all over Pakistan.  President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have strongly condemned the terrorist attack, as reported by Radio Pakistan.

The two prayed for the deceased souls and offered their condolences to the grieving families, expressing their anguish and sorrow at the loss of innocent lives in the heinous act.

President Zardari stated that “the brutal killing of innocent people is the killing of the entire humanity.” Furthermore, he declared attackers as “terrorists” and condemned them for being “the enemies of Pakistan and humanity.”

Prime Minister Sharif instructed the local government to fully cooperate with the bereaved families and provide medical assistance to the injured. He also instructed law enforcement agencies to immediately investigate the incident.

“The terrorists responsible for this incident will be severely punished,” he said, adding that “any kind of terrorism is not acceptable in the country.”

Sarfaraz Bugti, the chief minister of Baluchistan, expressed his sympathies to the families of the deceased and denounced the act. He also said that the terrorists would face a heroic end at the hands of the Baluchistan administration. (ILKHA)