The Balochistan government announced on Friday that two suspects were arrested in connection with the murder of seven labourers from Punjab in Sarbandan.
Earlier this month, unknown gunmen killed seven barbershop workers and injured one in Surbandar, Gwadar. The assailants entered their residential quarters and opened fire while they were sleeping.
Read: Seven Killed, One Injured in Overnight Attack in Gwadar, Balochistan
The police said the victims were from different cities in south Punjab, including Khanewal, Mian Channu, and Lodhran.
Addressing a press conference in Quetta, Balochistan Home Minister Zia Ullah Langau stated that all institutions were tasked with apprehending the culprits.
The home minister added, “Statements from them show they were given orders, and we have seized guns and weapons from them.”
He said that according to their statements, the culprits were ordered to kill any Punjabi labourer.
“I’ve repeatedly said that foreign forces are behind these terrorist events,” he said, adding that his claim was supported by proof provided to different forums.
He stated that killing poor labourers could not be called a struggle for rights but was spreading terrorism and serving the objectives of the country’s enemies.
Balochistan Counter Terrorism Department Deputy Inspector General Aitzaz Goraya said the two suspects were members of the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and were arrested in Gwadar. One suspect was a local from Sarbandan.
Langau said the provincial government was devising a plan of action to address the “new terrorism events gaining much support” and improve the administration’s capabilities.
Officials had previously said the Sarbandan killings were similar to recent attacks in Turbat and Gwadar, targeting natives of Punjab.
This was the third attack on Punjabi nationals in Balochistan in less than a month.
