**QUETTA, Pakistan** — Late Tuesday night, several passenger buses traveling on a highway in the troubled southwestern region of Pakistan were ambushed by armed militants, resulting in the abduction and murder of seven passengers, according to officials. This tragic event took place in Rakhni, a town located in Balochistan, while the buses were en route to Punjab province from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
Waqar Alam, an administrator for the district, reported that the attackers specifically targeted individuals from Punjab, suggesting a deliberate effort to inflict harm on that particular demographic. Although no group has formally taken responsibility for the attack, attention is likely to turn towards ethnic Baloch separatists, who have a history of conducting such assaults on passenger vehicles in Balochistan.
In recent years, the Baloch Liberation Army, a prominent separatist faction, has been accused of staging multiple deadly attacks against civilians, including three major incidents last year that claimed numerous lives. Balochistan remains a hotbed of an ongoing insurgency, fueled by the discontent of various separatist groups that demand autonomy from the central authorities in Islamabad. While government statements claim that the insurgency has been largely contained, acts of violence persist in the region.
This latest attack coincides with an escalation of violence in northwest Pakistan. Just a day prior, militants ambushed security forces in the Kurram district while they were responding to an earlier attack on humanitarian aid trucks, leading to the deaths of four soldiers and additional injuries to others. In this instance, security reinforcements were dispatched to address the violence following the killing of a driver and a security personnel during the initial ambush on the aid convoy.
Reports indicate that the looting and destruction of supply trucks traveling to Parachinar — Kurram’s primary city — further exacerbated the situation. Dr. Qaiser Abbas from a local hospital confirmed that they received the bodies of four soldiers following the attack in Kurram, highlighting the region’s volatility. While no group has stepped forward to accept blame for these assaults, Sunni militant organizations are under scrutiny.
Kurram is primarily inhabited by Shiite Muslims, who constitute a minority in predominantly Sunni Pakistan, fueling a history of sectarian tension and conflict. The attack on security forces in this district comes amid military operations targeting the Pakistani Taliban in regions like North and South Waziristan and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In a recent communiqué, the military announced that its troops had eliminated 30 militants during operations in South Waziristan the day before, although no specific details were disclosed. These military actions primarily target the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group known for its affiliations with the Afghan Taliban, who regained control of Afghanistan in 2022.
