Four road workers were killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Pakistani police said the workers, who had traveled from Punjab to Balochistan for work, were attacked near Saranan on Monday. The assailants reportedly arrived at the workers’ site on motorcycles and opened fire.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The incident was the second similar attack in the Saranan area in three days. On Friday, gunmen reportedly seized and blew up a police post in the area.
According to reports, the attackers entered the police post, held police personnel hostage and destroyed documents and equipment. They then planted explosives inside the building and detonated them. No one was killed or wounded, but the police post was heavily damaged.
Pakistani police have also reported that eight people were killed in separate incidents across Balochistan earlier this month.
The increase in armed attacks comes as the security situation in Balochistan has deteriorated sharply. According to a monthly assessment by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, the number of people killed in the province rose from 109 in June to 372 in July, an increase of 241 percent.
Security force fatalities increased from six to 62 during the same period, while deaths among militants rose from 75 to 238 and civilian fatalities increased from 28 to 54. The report also recorded the deaths of 18 members of peace committees in the province.
The latest attack highlights the continuing security challenges in Balochistan, where militant violence has increasingly affected both security personnel and civilians.
