Pakistan: Gunmen kill six in 'coordinated' attacks in southwest province, say police

Balochistan's insurgency targets state forces, foreigners, and non-locals.

Amid a surge in violence, at least six people were killed in "coordinated" attacks in southwestern Pakistan, where gunmen specifically targeted bus passengers based on their ethnicity, police said.

Pakistan has long faced a separatist insurgency in Balochistan, where militants frequently attack state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

"Terrorists have targeted passenger buses and security officials in multiple districts of Balochistan, killing at least five non-local passengers and a security official," speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior provincial police official told AFP.

The attacks occurred in the coastal town of Pasni in Gwadar district.

"They stopped passenger buses and identified non-local travellers," the official added.

Dozens of militants carried out the assaults in several districts, taking control of major highways and establishing checkpoints to search vehicles, the official said.

In some areas, the attacks were still ongoing, he added.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the assaults, calling them "a cowardly act" and "a crime against humanity".

"Targeting travellers by identifying them is barbaric and brutal," he stated.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Baloch separatists have escalated assaults on security forces and non-locals in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, ethnic Baloch separatists attacked a train carrying 450 passengers, triggering a two-day siege that left dozens dead.

Days later, a vehicle-borne suicide attack killed at least five paramilitaries.

Both incidents were claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

The group also carried out coordinated attacks last year, including seizing control of a major highway and shooting travellers from other ethnic groups, shocking the nation.

Militants have further targeted energy projects with foreign investment—most notably from China—accusing outsiders of exploiting Balochistan’s resources while marginalising local communities in Pakistan’s poorest region.

Last year was Pakistan’s deadliest in a decade, continuing a rise in militancy since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021.