Seven barbershop workers gunned down in Gwadar

By News Desk

GWADAR: At least seven barber shop workers hailing from Punjab were killed by unidentified gunmen in Balochistan’s port city of Gwadar on Thursday when they were sleeping in their residential quarters.

According to Gwadar police station house officer (SHO) Mohsin Ali, the unidentified gunmen opened fire at the workers who were staying near Gwadar fish harbour in Surbandar area.At least seven of the workers were killed, while one of them got injured in the attack. All these men worked in the area’s barber shop and hailed from district Khanewal of Punjab. The dead and the injured were shifted to Gwadar hospital.

At least five among the seven slain workers belonged to Mian Channu, the tehsil’s assistant commissioner told Geo News.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a strong condemnation, terming the terrorism incident a cowardly act of the enemies of the country. “We are determined to eradicate the scourge of terrorism,” he said while sharing his grief with the victims’ families.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the killing of the barber shop workers in Gwadar and offered condolence to the families of the victims.He also sought a report on the matter, maintaining that “all kinds of force will be used to arrest the terrorists and their facilitators”.

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau ordered an investigation into the incident, terming it “open terrorism”.“The killing of workers is a cowardly move, and the terrorists will be dealt with strictly,” he added.

Provincial government’s spokesperson said the families of the slain workers were being contacted. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also condemned the killing of the workers.

“Brutal killing of innocent workers is open terrorism,” he said, adding the people of the entire country, including Balochistan, were extremely angry over this brutality. “The monsters involved in the crime should be brought to justice,” the PPP chief maintained.The incident comes at least three weeks after unidentified assailants gunned down 11 people in two separate terror incidents in Nushki district of Balochistan.