Strongly condemning killings of innocent civilians near Zhob in Balochistan, Punjab Governor Sardar Salim Haider said on Saturday that strict action should be taken against those involved in this heinous crime.Talking to newsmen in Rahimyar Khan on Saturday, the Punjab governor said that India was involved in these incidents of terrorism as it backed and financed separatists operating in Balochistan.

“It is high time the people of the province were taken on board for eliminating the insurgency plaguing the area,” he said, adding that it was the government’s responsibility to resolve the Balochistan issue. The Punjab governor said that the prestige of the Green passport had increased in the world.

“The government is taking steps to improve the economy,” he said, adding that the PML-N and the PPP would together put the country on the path to progress.  He claimed that the PPP had given lots of sacrifices for the restoration of democracy in the country. “President Asif Ali Zardari is the master of reconciliation,” the governor said, adding that the PPP agreed with the vision of Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi.

He was of the view that what katcha areas of Sindh and Balochistan needed was development. He, however, made it clear that action against the dacoits of katcha area would continue. At least nine passengers travelling on two Punjab-bound buses were abducted and massacred by BLA terrorists in Sardhaka area, on the border between Zhob and Loralai districts on Thursday night. 

“Nine people abducted from both vehicles have been killed, and their bodies have been recovered,” said Zhob Assistant Commissioner Naveed Alam, adding the bodies were being transported to Rakhni for dispatch to their native towns in Punjab. A group of armed men had blocked the road and stopped the two vehicles. The armed assailants boarded the buses, checked the identity cards of passengers and forced 10 persons off the vehicles at gunpoint.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)