Pakistan: Attackers stop vehicles, kill several people

Separatists have been active in Pakistan’s Balochistan region for decades. Now attackers have stopped cars on a street there and killed more than 30 people. President Zardari has announced the consequences.

Gunmen have killed several people in Pakistan. Officials said the men stopped several buses, trucks and minibuses on a highway, killing more than 30 people and wounding others. Most of the dead were workers from Punjab.

Targeted killing of people from Punjab?

The attack took place early Monday in the impoverished province of Balochistan. The gunmen checked vehicles travelling in both directions, identified people from Punjab and shot them, a senior official told AFP. The attackers set fire to at least 10 vehicles before fleeing.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack as barbaric in separate statements and said the perpetrators would be held accountable.

Separatists are active in the region.

Balochistan, a sparsely populated province in southwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is the country's most volatile province. Separatist groups have been fighting security forces in the region for decades. Islamist groups and the Pakistani Taliban are also active there.

A local official told AFP he believed the so-called Balochistan Liberation Army was responsible for the incident. The Balochistan Liberation Army is the most active armed separatist movement in the region. Hours before the attack, the group warned people against travelling on the highways. It has not yet claimed responsibility for the crime.