7 Balochistan Barbers Slain While Sleeping by Unidentified Shooters

Seven barbers were slain by unidentified gunmen early Thursday morning in the Pakistani province of Balochistan.

Officials say that the incident occurred in the coastal area of Sarbandan, approximately nine miles from the Gwadar Port.

Gwadar’s deputy commissioner, Hamoodur Rahman, told The Media Line that the victims, who hailed from Khanewal, Punjab, were killed while sleeping in a residential area. 

“An investigation into the incident has commenced, with evidence being collected,” Rahman said. 

Imam Baluch, a senior police official, told The Media Line that security personnel have surrounded the area and are searching for the suspects. 

Numerous individuals from other parts of Pakistan have been killed in Balochistan in recent years by members of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a group banned in Pakistan and considered a terrorist organization by the US and other countries.

In May 2017, 10 construction workers from Sindh were shot dead in Gwadar. 

Two years later, at least 14 nonlocals, including Coast Guard personnel, were attacked and killed while traveling on a passenger bus along the coastal highway from Gwadar to Karachi.

In October 2023, terrorists killed six construction workers from Punjab in Turbat, Balochistan, and just last month, 11 passengers from Punjab were killed in Nushki, Balochistan, on their way to Iran from Quetta, Balochistan’s capital city.

In last month’s attack, BLA gunmen intercepted passing vehicles, including a bus traveling to Iran. They forcibly removed passengers and executed them in nearby hills. The victims, hailing from various cities in Punjab, were selected after the BLA fighters inspected their passports.

BLA and the Baloch Liberation Front, another banned group, have been implicated in most cases of killings of non-locals in Balochistan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack and expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased.

They vowed swift justice for the attackers and their accomplices, ensuring they would face “real payback.”