Three dead, seven injured as passenger bus targeted in Balochistan’s Kalat

KALAT: At least three people were killed and seven others sustained injuries after unidentified assailants opened gunfire on a passenger coach travelling from Karachi to Quetta near a checkpost in Balochistan’s Kalat, police said on Wednesday.

SHO Kalat Habibullah told Geo News that the attack occurred as the coach approached a checkpoint in the area. The vehicles that run on this route carry approximately 40 to 50 passengers. However, the exact number of passengers on board the targeted bus remains unknown.

In a statement, the police said two of the injured passengers were in critical condition. The injured passengers were immediately transported to District Hospital Kalat for treatment. 

When the bus reached Nemargh Cross, the unidentified attackers first opened fire and then hit the bus with hand grenades. Police and FC personnel have cordoned off the area, and security has been beefed up at the hospital as well.

Police officials added that the assailants were waiting on top of nearby mountains to attack the bus.

Speaking to Geo News, Balochistan government spokesperson, Shahid Rind noted that law enforcement personnel have begun a search operation. “Initial reports suggest that the attackers were waiting to strike. They closed the street from both sides,” he added. 

The attack came days after at least nine passengers travelling on two Punjab-bound coaches were abducted and killed by unidentified armed men in Sur-Dakai area, on the border between Balochistan’s Zhob and Loralai districts.

Assistant Commissioner Zhob, Naveed Alam, said the attackers opened fire on the abducted passengers after taking them away from the vehicles, adding that the bodies were being transported to Rakhni for dispatch to their native towns in Punjab.

Shahid Rind, the Balochistan government’s spokesperson, said that Fitna al Hindustan — a term used for terrorist organisations in Balo­chistan — had carried out the attacks.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti declared that the killers of innocent civilians were not worthy of any mercy. “Those who murder innocent people will be hunted to the last man,” the chief minister said.

This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.