QUETTA: Six labourers abducted by militants associated with Fitna al Hindustan Balochistan province have been found dead, officials said, in the latest attack targeting non-local workers in the region.
The laboureres were belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
The victims were kidnapped on July 27 from the Kalatak area of Kech district after armed militants of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacked a group of labourers working in the area.
During the attack, one worker, Javed, a resident of Swabi district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was shot dead at the scene, while six others were taken hostage.
The abducted workers were identified as Muhammad Arshad from Lodhran, Muhammad Taimoor, Muhammad Parvez and Muhammad Wazir from Bahawalpur in Punjab province, and Muhammad Amjad and Muhammad Yahya from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Officials said the bodies of all six abducted workers were recovered on Wednesday. No further details were immediately released about the circumstances of their killings.
The victims had been employed on development projects in Balochistan, where thousands of workers from other parts of Pakistan are engaged in infrastructure and construction work.
The killings came days after five labourers from Punjab were shot dead in the Mashkel area of Balochistan in another militant attack.
Authorities have repeatedly accused militants of targeting civilians, labourers and development projects in the province in an effort to undermine security and economic activity.
No independent verification of responsibility was immediately available, although the original claim attributed the attack to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
