5 workers killed, 2 injured in suspected separatist attack in Pakistan's restive Balochistan

Karachi: At least five workers were killed and two others injured on Tuesday after unidentified gunmen opened fire at a dam construction site in the Panjgur district of Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, officials said.

The militants attacked the security officials and workers who were busy in the maintenance work on the dam site in the Paroom area of Panjgur district, spokesperson for the Balochistan government Shahid Rind said.

"Five people were killed and two others injured,” Rind said but didn’t confirm if any security officials had been killed in the attack.

Officials said that the victims were local people.

"A search has been launched to arrest the attackers,” a police official said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack but rebels linked with various Baloch nationalist groups often attacked the security forces and government installations.

Levies police and district officials reached the site of the attack and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital where they were said to be in stable condition.

Balochistan’s Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti strongly denounced the attack, calling it “an unforgivable act” and pledged that the perpetrators would face justice.

He emphasised that these “terrorist acts,” intended to halt Balochistan’s progress, would not succeed.

“Those responsible will be held accountable for their actions,” Bugti said, noting that terrorists would “never achieve their goals.” Some television channels reported that five Levies were killed in the attack.

Earlier this month, 20 workers were killed in a rocket attack on coal mines in the Duki district of Balochistan, prompting more than 40,000 colliers to stop their work and return to their native areas.

On September 28, armed men killed seven workers in the area of Khuda Abadan in Panjgur district as they were sleeping in their quarters. The seven were labourers from other provinces working in Panjgur.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

The Baloch Liberation Army accuses China and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities.