F.P. Report
DERA GHAZI KHAN: The bodies of nine bus passengers who were murdered in Balochistan were sent to their native towns on Friday.
Terrorists affiliated with Fitna-ul-Hindustan abducted passengers from the bus travelling form Quetta to Lahore in Zhob district on Thursday night and shot them dead after checking their identities. According to Dera Ghazi Khan Commissioner Ashfaq Ahmed, the bodies were received by the civil and military officials and sent to their respective hometowns.
He stated that the victims belonged to Lahore, Gujrat, Khanewal, Gujranwala, Lodhran, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Muzaffargarh. The administration revealed that brothers Jabar and Usman, residents of Dunyapur tehsil of Lodhran, were traveling from Balochistan to attend their father’s funeral. They were taken off the bus in front of their women and children and shot dead.
The other victims have been identified as Muhammad Irfan from D.G. Khan, Sabir from Gujranwala, Muhammad Asif from Muzaffargarh, Ghulam Saeed from Khanewal, Muhammad Junaid from Lahore, Muhammad Bilal from Attock and Bilawal from Gujrat. Sabir, who was employed at a food center, had been working there for 15 years and was the sole breadwinner for his family. He had four children, with the eldest being 14 years old. Sabir was a resident of Wahndo area of Gujranwala.
The banned Balochistan Liberation Front, affiliated with Fitna-ul-Hindustan, claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesperson said the group blocked the road between Musakhel–Mukhtar and Khajuri, and executed the nine abducted passengers.
On Thursday, nine passengers, all belonging to Punjab, were brutally shot dead after being abducted by terrorists affiliated with Fitna-ul-Hindustan in the Loralai district, officials confirmed.
According to Loralai Commissioner Saadat Hussain, the incident occurred near the Dakai intersection on the National Highway connecting Loralai and Musakhel. The victims were kidnapped after disembarking from a passenger bus.
“Armed assailants intercepted the passengers, separated them based on identity, and took them away. Their bodies have now been recovered,” the commissioner told reporters. Two of the passengers were identified as brothers Usman Toor and Jabir Toor, reisdents of Dunyapur. They reportedly lived in Quetta for work and were going home for their father’s funeral.
Earlier, it was reported that terrorists of Fitna-ul-Hindustan attacked passenger buses in Kalat, Mastung, and Loralai, abducting several travellers. According to details, a search operation was launched in the affected areas to safely recover the abducted passengers, said the spokesperson for the provincial government.
The attacks occurred on Wednesday, police sources confirmed. Balochistan government spokesman Shahid Rind confirmed the incidents and stated that security forces responded promptly and robustly at all three locations. Rind emphasised that the forces were fully alert to ensure the safety of civilians and that every effort was being made to secure the release of the kidnapped passengers. He added that security forces were conducting intensive operations against the terrorists and the protection of citizens remains the government’s top priority.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the kidnapping and killing of bus passengers in Sardhaka area of Balochistan, vowing to avenge the blood of innocent people.
“We will deal with terrorists with full force. The blood of innocent people will be avenged,” The prime minister said in a statement issued by the PM Office. He said that the killing of unarmed civilians was a blatant terrorism by Fitnatul Hindustan. “With resolve, unity, and strength, we will confront the scourge of terrorism and uproot it completely,” Prime Minister Shehbaz resolved.
President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the brutal killing of bus passengers in Balochistan, reiterating the nation’s resolve to purge the country of Fitnatul Hindustan and its facilitators.
The president, in a statement, said that the terrorists took the innocent citizens off a bus and brutally murdered them. “This barbarity is a heinous conspiracy by Fitnatul Hindustan to spill blood in Pakistan. They want to create chaos and unrest in Pakistan. We will purge our land of Fitnatul Hindustan’ and its facilitators at all costs,” the president resolved.
He said that the country’s struggle would continue until the scourge of terrorism is completely eradicated. The president said that he shared the grief of the victims’ families and expressed sympathies for them.
