QUETTA - Gunmen shot and killed at least 22 people in southwest Pakistan on Monday, after forcing them out of vehicles and checking their ethnicity, government officials said, in an attack claimed by separatists.
The attack was carried out by dozens of militants early Monday in the district of Musakhail in impoverished Balochistan province, where security forces are battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active militant separatist group in the region, claimed responsibility for the shootings in a statement emailed to AFP.
The buses, vans and trucks were stopped one after the other on a highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan, Najibullah Kakar, a senior official in Musakhail, told AFP.
"The numbers of the militants were between 30 to 40. They stopped 22 vehicles," he said.
"Vehicles traveling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot," he added.
He said 22 people were killed, mostly Punjabi labourers as well as two paramilitary soldiers.
Hameed Zehri, another senior official in the district, confirmed the death toll to AFP.
The BLA claimed that those killed were military servicemen in civilian clothes who were "identified and subsequently killed by BLA fighters", but did not provide any evidence.
Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but poorest province, despite an abundance of untapped natural resources.
Baloch separatists have in recent years intensified attacks on Punjabis and Sinhdis from elsewhere in Pakistan working in the region, as well as foreign energy firms they believe are exploiting the region without sharing its riches.
Punjabis are the largest of the six main ethnic groups in Pakistan, and are perceived to dominate the ranks of the military locked in a battle to quash Balochistan's armed factions.
In a similar attack in April, 11 Punjabi labourers were killed when they were abducted from a bus in Naushki city of Balochistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed "deep grief and condemnation over the terrorist attack" in a statement issued Monday by his office.