16 die in Balochistan target killings

ISLAMABAD - Sixteen people were killed Saturday in two incidents of target killings in Pakistan’s troubled Balochistan province.

A bus carrying passengers from Punjab’s capital Lahore to Balochistan’s capital Quetta was stopped by gunmen near the town of Sibbi.

The passengers were asked to come down and prove their identities. Ten people, who had their national identity cards carrying addresses of Punjab, were gunned down at the spot.

Six labourers were shot dead in Quetta Saturday evening while coming back from work. Police sources said that they were fired at from point blank range.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killings, although security forces blamed Baloch rebels for these attacks.

Non-Punjabis have been a target of Baloch insurgents engaged in fighting security forces in the province for more than a decade.

The killing of a Baloch leader Habib Jalib last month also aggravated the violence. A package announced by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani last year aimed at providing due rights to Balochistan but was dismissed by the nationalist leaders.