Quetta: As many as 18 men mostly belonging from Punjab were shot dead and two other injured when few unknown armed men shot fires at them near the Iranian border on Friday, sources informed.
According to the sources, the deceased men were on the way to cross the Pakistani border in order to find better economic prospects, trying to reach Iran through a difficult and illegal route.
According to the security officials, the victims mostly Punjabis were shot dead while they were boarding for Iran and four armed men opened fire at them, killing 18 at the spot.
Meanwhile, the Levies officials reached the spot and shifted the bodies to hospital in Turbat for medico-legal formalities, later dispatched to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and Chief Minister Nawaz Aslam Raisani stoutly condemned the incident. Baloch Liberation Tigers (BLT) have accepts the responsibility of the killings.
Earlier this month, 15 Shia Muslims relating to the Hazara community were killed after gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying 50 passengers were travelling from Taftan to Quetta. The banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi claimed the group carried out the killings.