Pakistan Navy personnel among 14 bus passengers martyred in Balochistan firing

ORMARA: Pakistan Navy personnel were among 14 people martyred  in Ormara firing incident on Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan, a spokesperson said Thursday.

They were travelling in civilian buses when targeted, he further said.

Police said that the terrorists  asked for National Identity Cards (NICs) of all the passengers before shooting them at point blank range in Buzi Top area, state-owned APP reported.

The attackers were wearing uniforms from the paramilitary Frontier Corps, Balochistan Home Secretary Haider Ali told AFP.

The gunmen "stopped buses on the Makran Coastal Highway and gunned down 14 people", he said, adding that the vehicles were travelling to Karachi from the coastal town of Ormara.

Today’s ghastly incident has taken place less than a week after a suicide blast in provincial capital Quetta claimed 20 lives.

According to Levies sources, the dead bodies were shifted to a nearby health facility in Ormara.  

In a similar incident in 2015, gunmen martyred 20 abducted bus passengers in Mastung .

Condemnations pour in

Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the dastardly act of terrorism and sought a report into the incident, said a statement.

 He directed the authorities concerned to make every possible effort to identify and bring the perpetrators of the barbaric act to justice.

Chief Minister Jam Kamal termed the tragedy as a conspiracy to derail the development process of the province.