Balochistan: Separatist militants killed at least 39 people in "coordinated" attacks in southwestern Pakistan on Monday that largely targeted ethnic Punjabis, government officials said. In one of the attacks, dozens of militants stopped vehicles travelling on a highway through Balochistan province and shot 23 people dead - one of the worst shootings in the region in the past several years.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active militant separatist group in the province, claimed responsibility for an overnight operation. Government officials have reported deadly attacks in at least three districts in impoverished Balochistan, where security forces are battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence.
"We have confirmed 39 people killed in several coordinated attacks carried out by the BLA terrorists," Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan provincial government, said. In Musakhail district, between 30 and 40 gunmen stopped 22 buses, vans and trucks one after the other on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan, senior official Najibullah Kakar said.
"Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot," he said. In its statement, the BLA said it had launched an operation "on highways across Balochistan", claiming to have targeted only security personnel.
Militants also blew up a railway bridge in nearby Bolan district on a track that connects the province to Punjab and Sindh, with six dead bodies found nearby, said Javed Baloch, a senior government official in the district.
Ten people were also killed in Kalat district, including four paramilitary officers and one policeman responding to incidents, provincial government spokesman Rind said.
