Kalat: At least three people died and seven others suffered wounds after the unidentified assailants opened shots to a passenger coach who was traveling from Karachi to Quetta near a checkpoint in Kalat in Baluchistan, police said Wednesday.
Sho Kalat Habibullah said Geographical news that the attack occurred when the coach approached a control point in the area. Vehicles run on this route transport approximately 40 to 50 passengers. However, the exact number of passengers aboard the target bus remains unknown.
In a statement, the police said that two of the injured passengers were in critical condition. Wounded passengers were immediately transported to the Kalat district hospital to receive treatment.
When the bus arrived at Nemargh Cross, the unidentified attackers opened fire for the first time and then hit the bus with hand grenades. The police and FC staff have cordoned off the area, and security has also been reinforced in the hospital.
Police officers added that the assailants were waiting at the top of the nearby mountains to attack the bus.
Talking to PakGazette News, the Baluchistan government spokesman Shahid Rind said the police staff has started a search operation. “The initial reports suggest that the attackers were waiting to attack. They closed the street on both sides,” he added.
The attack occurred days after at least nine passengers traveling in two coaches destined for Punjab were kidnapped and killed by unidentified armed men in the Southkai area, at the border between the districts of Baluchistan and Lorealai.
The Assistant Commissioner Zhob, Naveed Alam, said the attackers opened fire against the kidnapped passengers after moving them away from the vehicles, adding that the bodies were being transported to Rakhni for the office to their native cities in Punjab.
Shahid Rind, Baluchistan government spokesman said Fitna al Hindustan, a term used for terrorist organizations in Baluchistan, had carried out attacks.
Baluchistan’s prime minister Sarfaraz Bugti declared that innocent civilians were not worthy of any mercy. “Those who murder innocent people will be persecuted to the last man,” said Prime Minister.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.
