CHAGAI — Nine laborers were shot dead early Wednesday morning after gunmen stormed a private mining site in the Dalbandin area of Balochistan’s Chagai district.
The attackers arrived at the site under the cover of darkness. They rounded up the workers, separated them from the local staff, and opened fire at point-blank range. Police confirmed the victims were all from outside the province, specifically from the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab.
Local authorities arrived at the scene hours later to secure the perimeter and transport the bodies to a nearby hospital. The attackers fled into the rugged desert terrain immediately after the shooting, leaving no immediate trail behind.
“The perpetrators knew exactly who they were looking for,” said a senior official with the Chagai Levies, who requested anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media. “They didn’t touch the local employees. They targeted the workers based on their provincial identity.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the carnage as of Wednesday afternoon. However, the modus operandi mirrors previous attacks carried out by separatist insurgent groups in the region, which have frequently targeted laborers and settlers from other provinces to exert pressure on the state.
The attack comes amid a volatile security climate in Balochistan. The province has seen a sharp uptick in violence over the last six months, ranging from roadside IED blasts to targeted killings of non-locals. For the laborers in Chagai, the mining site was a source of steady income in a region defined by extreme poverty and limited job opportunities.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident, calling it an attempt to sow discord and destabilize the province. He has ordered a high-level investigation, though similar directives in past incidents have rarely led to the apprehension of the perpetrators.
As the families of the victims prepare to receive the bodies, the attack serves as a grim reminder of the high human cost of the ongoing insurgency. Security remains on high alert across the district, yet for the mining communities in the border regions, the protection offered by the state continues to be thin, and the threat of violence remains a constant, deadly reality.
