Killing of Pakistani workers in Iran: Survivor says attackers asked all Pakistanis in room to stand up

ISLAMABAD: On Saturday morning, in Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran, unidentified armed men entered and attacked a room where 13 labourers from the Lodhran and Muzaffargarh districts of Pakistan had been staying, the BBC reported.

Nine people were killed in the firing by the attackers. Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Deputy Security and Law Enforcement Officer of Sistan and Balochistan Ali Raza as saying that a police team immediately reached the scene and the survivors of the attack told the police that three armed men were involved in the incident who escaped after firing.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry condemned the attack on the Pakistani workers in the suburbs of Saravan and said that an investigation had been initiated by the relevant institutions.

Responding to the incident, the Foreign Office of Pakistan said the Pakistani authorities were in contact with the Iranian authorities for an immediate investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, according to an eyewitness who survived the attack, apart from the nine deaths, two people were injured whose condition was critical and as many injured persons were out of danger.

A labourer who was injured in the attack said 13 people from Punjab were living in the same room and most of them repaired vehicles.

He said the armed men entered the room in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. As soon as they entered the room, the attackers told all Pakistanis in the room to stand up.

He said some people tried to run away from the room but they were overpowered. They attackers tied them up and made them lie upside down.

The eyewitness added that after that, the assailants resorted to indiscriminate firing in the room. “I was also there with others. Luckily, I got shot in my leg and arm, he said. “After the firing, the assailants also checked whether someone was still alive. I had blood all over me. I was buried under the corpses.”

He said he acted as if he was dead in order to save his life. “I held my breath with all my might. They thought me dead too and left the room.”

Another Pakistani labourer who survived the attack said that he had luckily gone to toilet when the attackers arrived.

When he heard the sounds of gunshots and then some people going out, if gave him some idea that the situation was unusual. “When I entered the room, I saw that the whole room was red with blood. I lost my senses. I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Apparently it looked like 12 out of 12 had died.”

In such a situation, one of the seriously injured workers asked him to take his mobile phone and go outside to inform the owners of the workshop.

After a while, some people, an ambulance and police arrived. He said all the victims were taken to hospital and the police recorded his statement.

The families of those killed in Pakistan have demanded that the government bring the bodies to Pakistan as soon as possible.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office has said that the Pakistani embassy in Iran would make every possible effort for the immediate return of the bodies.

Malik Arshad, a close friend of Mohammad Zubair of Lodhran and his nephew Abu Bakr, who were killed in the attack, said the two had gone to Iran for labour almost two years ago and used to work on denting and painting vehicles there.

According to him, both were thinking of returning to Pakistan due to lack of work and preparations were also under way for Abu Bakr’s marriage in Pakistan. Arshad said Abu Bakr’s mother frequently asked her son to return and he would reply there would be expenses in his marriage and if he quit work, how he would meet those expenses.

On the other hand, family members in Muzaffargarh district are in grief over the death of the sole sponsor of the entire family, Ghulam Shabbir. He has left a widow and one child to mourn.

Shabbir’s uncle Mohammad Akram said he was an expert mason. “He went to Iran about 10 months ago. Some people from our area were working in Iran, they told Ghulam Shabir if he goes with them, he can get enough work.”

Akram said Shabbir was not paid a regular salary but it was a kind of contract system. The more he worked, the more money he would get. According to Akram, Shabbir wanted to return to Pakistan and open his own workshop.

Similarly, Muhammad Akmal of Alipur, who died in the incident, has left behind a widow and three children. His brother-in-law Tariq Mehmood said he went to Iran two months ago to work at a car wash. In his area, he used to run a small sanitary shop but it was not running in profit and he was not able to meet his household expenses.

Mehmood said a friend advised Akmal to go to Iran where he could earn money. “He was compelled to go to Iran, but even there his work was not so good.”

According to Mehmood, Akmal was very sensitive about education of his children. The reason for his leaving Pakistan was that the children’s fees and expenses were not being met and he wanted his children to be able to read and write.

Mohammad Azhar and his cousin Mohammad Asif from Alipur were also among the nine labourers killed in the firing.

According to his uncle Malik Khuda Bakhsh, Azhar was working as an electrician in Iran for 10 years and his bereaved family included two children and a widow. Asif was about 18 years old and he went to Iran six months ago to work as Azhar’s helper.

“All the families are looking for when the bodies of their loved ones will reach Pakistan and when they can bury them,” he said.

Journalist Ejaz Khan Sahu of Lodhran said that due to the increase in inflation in Pakistan, hardworking and skilled people such as car mechanics, boring workers, and car painters chose to work in Iran. Some agencies were also established in the area for recruitment.

He said that people used to go to Iran before but the trend increased in the last two or three years. “They are all poor people supporting their families.”