Gunmen shoot 7 tourists off bus in Pakistan

Gunmen shot dead seven tourists after they were pulled off a bus in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday. The killings took place in Balochistan province.

Officials say security forces have been battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence in the impoverished but mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran for decades.

Attacks on security forces and ethnic groups have increased sharply in recent years, especially on workers in Punjab, the country’s most populous and prosperous province and a major recruiting base for the military.

Gunmen shot at the tires of a tourist bus as it traveled through Balochistan on a highway near the provincial border with Punjab on Tuesday night, a senior government official in the area, Sadat Hussain, said.

At one point, the gunmen boarded the bus and demanded to see the passengers’ identity cards. Hussain said, “The passengers from Punjab province were picked up by gunmen and lined up and killed.”

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the killings.

According to international media reports, at least 67 security personnel have been killed in the region since January 1.

According to Pakistan’s Center for Research and Security Studies, last year was the deadliest year for Pakistan in a decade. More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks there, including 685 security personnel.

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