Unidentified gunmen fatally shot seven employees of a barber shop while they were asleep in their living quarters in the port city of Balochistan on Thursday.
According to Mohsin Ali, the Station House Officer of Gwadar Police Station, the gunmen opened fire on the workers residing near the Gwadar Fish Harbour in the Surbandar area.
Seven workers were killed in the attack, with one sustaining injuries. All of the victims worked at a local barber shop and were from the Khanewal district in Punjab, as stated by a police official.
The bodies of the deceased and the injured individual have been transferred to Gwadar Hospital.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti denounced the killings and expressed condolences to the victims’ families. He ordered a report on the incident and emphasized the use of all necessary force to apprehend the perpetrators and their accomplices.
Balochistan Home Minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau initiated an investigation into the incident, labeling it as an act of terrorism.
The minister condemned the cowardly attack and vowed strict action against terrorists.
The provincial government’s spokesperson mentioned that efforts are underway to reach out to the families of the victims.
This incident occurred approximately three weeks after 11 people were killed in separate terrorist attacks in the Nushki district of Balochistan.
In one incident, nine individuals from Punjab were abducted from a bus traveling on the National Highway from Quetta to Taftan. Their bodies were later discovered under a bridge, having been shot dead.
The victims were identified as laborers from Mandi Bahauddin, Wazirabad, and Gujranwala areas of Punjab.
Additionally, two people were killed and three others injured in another incident in the city on the same day.
Similarly, on March 20, security forces thwarted an attack on the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) colony after gunmen targeted various government offices within the complex.