QUETTA: Six labourers working on a construction project were shot dead near Quetta, levies officials said on Friday.
Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the labourers in Lajjay area southwest of Quetta, the officials said. “The labourers were working on a construction project when they were fired at,” they added.
According to levies forces, the labourers, who belonged to Punjab, were working without any kind of security and did not have a no objection certificate (NOC) either.
Levies personnel reached the site after the attack and launched an investigation into the incident. The bodies of the victims were shifted to Civil Hospital in Quetta.
No group has claimed responsibility for the killings so far.
Militants have previously targeted Punjabi and Sindhi labourers, who are largely considered outsiders in many parts of the province and viewed with deep suspicion. Hundreds of soldiers and militants have been killed since the insurgency flared up in the mid-2000s.
Pakistan also regularly accuses its eastern neighbour India of funding and arming the insurgents.
Published in Daily Times, May 5th 2018.
