Gunmen targeted southwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing over 50 people in two separate attacks.
Additional reports of shootings and unrest emerged from Baluchistan province, according to police and officials.
In the Musakhail district, more than 23 people were fatally shot after being singled out and removed from buses and trucks, said senior police official Ayub Achakzai. The attackers also set fire to at least 10 vehicles before fleeing.
In a separate assault in the Qalat district, gunmen killed at least nine people, including four police officers and five civilians, authorities reported.
Insurgents blew up a railway track in Bolan, attacked a police station in Mastung and burned vehicles in Gwadar, all in Baluchistan. No casualties were reported in those incidents.
Baluchistan has long been the scene of an insurgency, with various separatist groups staging attacks, mainly on security forces.
The separatists seek independence from the central government in Islamabad. Despite claims from Pakistani authorities that they have quelled the insurgency, violence in Baluchistan persists.
The Musakhail attack occurred hours after the outlawed Baluch Liberation Army separatist group warned people to avoid highways as they launched attacks on security forces in various parts of the province.
No immediate claim of responsibility for the latest killings was reported.
Separatists often request people’s ID cards, and then abduct or kill those from outside the province. Many recent victims have come from neighboring Punjab province.
Uzma Bukhari, a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial government, denounced the latest killings, calling them “a matter of grave concern” and urging the Baluchistan provincial government to “step up efforts to eliminate BLA terrorists.”
Baluchistan authorities said they responded to the attacks and would provide details on their operations later. Local media reported that at least 12 insurgents were killed by security forces in various parts of the province in the past 24 hours.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the Musakhail attack as “barbaric” and vowed that those responsible would not escape justice. Naqvi also condemned the killings in Qalat.
In May, gunmen fatally shot seven barbers in Gwadar, a port city in Baluchistan. In April, separatists killed nine people after abducting them from a bus on a highway in Baluchistan and also killed two people and wounded six in another car they forced to stop. The BLA claimed responsibility for those attacks.
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said the latest killings of non-Baluch people are an attempt by separatists to harm the province economically. He told The Associated Press that most such attacks aim to economically weaken Baluchistan, noting that “the weakening of Baluchistan means the weakening of Pakistan.”
Ali said insurgent attacks could hamper development work in the province. Separatists in Baluchistan have often targeted workers and others from Punjab as part of a campaign to force them to leave the province, which has experienced a low-level insurgency for years.
Most of these killings have been attributed to the outlawed group and others demanding independence from Islamabad. Rebels also have a presence in the province.
