11 Pakistanis shot and killed as terror attacks surge in Balochistan region

April 13 (UPI) -- Armed militants have shot and killed at least 11 people in two separate incidents in Pakistan's Balochistan region, authorities said Saturday.

The first incident took place near the city of Noshki when about 12 armed men highjacked a bus traveling from Quetta to Taftan. After identifying the passengers, the assailants took nine passengers off the bus and then shot them to death, officials told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

The victims were all men from the Pakistani province of Punjab. Their bodies were discovered under a bridge in a desolate, mountainous area.

In a separate attack on the same highway, gunmen fired on a car that drove through their cordon, the Press Trust of India reported. Authorities said the gunmen shot at the vehicle's tires, overturning it. At least two people, also residents of Noshki, were killed in the incident.

The killings come during a surge of terror attacks targeting national security forces in the Balochistan region.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attacks and sought a report on the incidents.

"We stand with the bereaved families in this hour of grief," he said. "Terrorists and their facilitators will be punished."

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti in a post on X offered his condolences to the victims' families and promised "the state will not spare their killers."

No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks near Noshki. The Balochistan Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for three previous terror attacks over the past few weeks.

The Pakistani government has blamed Afghanistan's Taliban regime for sheltering Paksitani members of the extremist group, which the Afghan rulers deny.

Bugti at a press briefing said the government will revisit security plans following the incidents.