Five more shot dead in Turbat

QUETTA: Five more bullet-riddled bodies were found in Tajban area of Turbat on Friday night.

According to Levies officials, the bodies were found among bushes in a remote area of the district. They were taken to the hospital for identification on Saturday morning, Geo News reported.

Initially, three of the dead were identified as Usman Qadir, Danish Ali and Badar Munir, the Levies sources said. Documents found with the three identified deceased show they all belonged to Gujrat district of Punjab.

Later, two of the remaining bodies were also identified as Saqib Ali and Qasim. They also belonged to Gujrat, according to the Levies sources.

One of the deceased, Danish Ali, was the only brother of two sisters. His father told Geo News that Danish had left his home 18 days ago.

After the bodies were recovered, an operation was launched in the area. A few days back, 15 bodies were recovered from Buleda area of Turbat.

They were also said to be the residents of Punjab who were being sent to Europe, via Iran, illegally through agents. While Buleda is on Pakistan-Iran border, Tajban is closer to Panjgur.

While speaking to Geo News, Balochistan government spokesperson Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar said the five bodies were found during a security operation launched in the area after recovery of the 15 bodies.

He added that according to their assessment the five, recovered Friday night, could have been killed on the same day on which the other 15 were shot dead as the two areas, Buleda and Tajban, are not very far from each other.

AFP adds: Senior administration official Akbar Harifal said the killings seemed to be the handiwork of separatist groups. Baloch separatists have regularly targeted ethnic Punjabi workers, accusing them of exploiting the province.

The army said troops on Friday killed a Baloch militant commander, Younas Taukali, 25 kilometres north of the area where the bodies of the migrant workers were recovered. "Terrorist Younas was involved in killing 15 innocent people from Punjab on Nov 15," an army statement said, adding that he had also ambushed security force convoys, besides killing many civilians.