Officials report armed men kidnaped and murdered nine passengers on a bus in Pakistan

Gunmen shot dead nine passengers on a bus after abducting them in Balochistan, a province in southwestern Pakistan, officials reported on Friday.

The provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind stated that multiple buses had been used to abduct the passengers on Thursday evening. Another government official, Naveed Alam, stated that their bodies with gunshot injuries were discovered in the mountains overnight.

Responsibility has not been claimed. In previous cases, separatist Baloch militants have participated in these incidents, executing passengers after determining they were from eastern Punjab province.

The Baloch Liberation Army is the most powerful among several insurgent factions that have been active in the mineral-rich region near Afghanistan and Iran.

Ethnic Baloch fighters accuse Pakistani authorities of confiscating their local resources to finance expenditures in Punjab province.