ISLAMABAD: At least three barbers from Sindh were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire inside their shop in Balochistan’s Panjgur district on Sunday.
The victims, identified as Abdul Sattar, Zubair, and Muhammad Zaman, were residents of Mirpurkhas, Sindh.
According to Levies officials, two of them were brothers. Their bodies have been transferred to a hospital, while authorities have launched an investigation into the attack.
Pakistan has been grappling with a surge in militant violence, particularly in its western border regions, following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. The Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies reported that over 1,500 civilians, security personnel, and militants lost their lives in such incidents last year—the highest toll in six years.
Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind strongly condemned the attack, calling it a “tragic and reprehensible” act. He denounced the targeting of innocent civilians as “savage and barbaric” and alleged that such incidents were part of a larger conspiracy to fuel inter-provincial tensions. Rind assured that security forces had initiated operations to track down the perpetrators and that those responsible would be brought to justice.
This killing follows a string of violent incidents in Balochistan. Last week, renowned religious scholar Mufti Shah Mir Bizenjo was assassinated in Turbat by unidentified gunmen as he exited a mosque after prayers. An Indian report later claimed that Bizenjo had played a key role in the arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Additionally, on Saturday, tribal leader Abdul Hafeez Mengal was shot dead in Khuzdar. In another alarming attack, at least 75 armed individuals stormed a police station in Ornach, Khuzdar, seizing police weapons and a mobile unit before fleeing.
Authorities continue to investigate these escalating attacks, vowing to restore stability in the region.
