By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The bodies of five men, identified as Afghan nationals, were found hanging from an electric pole in Dalbandin, Balochistan, on Friday, bearing multiple bullet wounds, government officials said.
The discovery was made near a college in the city, a hub of separatist militant activity, with the victims likely killed on Thursday, according to Attiq Shahwani, a senior government official.
“Five bullet-ridden bodies were found hanging from an electric pylon,” Shahwani said. “The bodies were shifted to a local hospital, where doctors confirmed the cause of death as multiple bullet wounds, mostly in the chest area.”
Hussain Lehri, Senior Superintendent of Police in Dalbandin, said the authorities moved the bodies to the District Headquarters Hospital for autopsy and identified the deceased as residents of Afghanistan’s Lashkar Gah city.
“The bodies have been taken to Quetta, where they will be kept in a morgue until claimed by family members,” Lehri added.
The incident occurred in a region where Pakistan shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran, and Baloch separatist groups have long accused Islamabad of exploiting natural resources.
Lehri said a video emerged 20 days ago showing an Afghan national in captivity of the banned Islamist group Jaish-ul-Adl. “But we are investigating this further.”
Jaish-ul-Adl is a militant group based in southeastern Iran, primarily operating in the Sistan and Balochistan province. The group emerged in 2012 as a successor to Jundallah, a previously active insurgent organization.
No group has claimed responsibility for the killings.
In a separate incident, three Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) terrorists were killed and one injured in an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan’s Razmak area, the military’s media wing said.
The operation, carried out after security forces were informed of terrorist presence, resulted in an intense fire exchange and recovery of weapons and ammunition from the slain terrorists, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
During the conduct of the operation, an intense fire exchange took place between our troops and the terrorists, resulting in three terrorists being killed and one injured.
The statement said weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the slain terrorists, who remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces as well as target killing of innocent civilians.
“Sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area, as security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.”
The government declared TTP as Fitna al-Khawarij and associated terrorists as khariji (outcasts) earlier this month, amid a surge in attacks targeting security forces, particularly in Balochistan and KP.
Islamabad has blamed Kabul for allowing TTP to use Afghan soil for launching attacks inside Pakistan, but the Taliban administration has denied the charges.
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