Seven labourers killed by gunmen in Pakistan's southern Balochistan

Seven labourers killed by gunmen in Pakistan's southern Balochistan

By Saleem Ahmad

Gunmen killed seven workers in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan late on Saturday, police said.

Armed men stormed a residence where labourers from eastern Punjab province were staying and opened fire with automatic weapons, police said. No one has claimed responsibility.

"Seven labourers have been gunned down by unknown armed men ... in Khuda-i-Abadan area of Panjgur town," Senior Superintendent of Police in Panjgur, Syed Fazil Shah told Reuters, adding one other labourer was injured.

In August, Balochistan suffered some of its most widespread violence in years when separatist militants attacked police stations, railway lines and highways triggering retaliatory operations by security forces.

More than 70 people were killed, including Punjab residents visiting or working in the province whose trucks were stopped or were pulled off buses.

Those attacks were claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of several ethnic insurgent groups battling the central government, saying it unfairly exploits gas and mineral resources in the province where poverty is rife. It wants the expulsion of Chinese interests and independence for Balochistan.