Baloch Liberation Army claims responsibility for attacks on Punjabis in Balochistan

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group, has claimed responsibility for the killing of 16 Punjabi-origin people in ethnic violence in the insurgency-hit southwestern Balochistan province of Pakistan.

The BLA said it attacked the settlers from Punjab in two separate incidents in Balochistan's provincial capital Quetta and on its outskirts yesterday in retaliation against the "killing of missing persons in custody of government."

The latest incidents of ethnic violence have raised concerns among authorities about the growing unrest in Balochistan.

"Armed men hijacked a passenger coach coming from Lahore
to Quetta in the Bolan district and kidnapped 10 men, all of whom belonged to Punjab," a police official said.

"The 10 men were later gunned down in cold blood. Six others, all of them labourers, had been killed in a targeted killing in the city in the Khilji colony," he said.

Separatists have carried out several attacks on government and security installations in the last few months as they stepped up their violent campaign in Balochstan.

In recent months, they had targeted settlers in the province, forcing many of them to flee. 

They had also attacked teachers and professors belonging to other provinces who were working in different educational institutions in Quetta, raising concerns about the safety of the settlers.

Recent media reports claimed that some parts of Quetta and other areas of the province had virtually become no-go zones for the law enforcement agencies and settlers.

The government has also faced major issues in the province of Sindh, particularly Karachi, where around 90 people were killed in a week following the outbreak of violence after a leader of the MQM was assassinated by unknown gunmen in a mosque on August 2.