Iranian embassy condemns ‘inhumane and cowardly’ killing of Pakistanis in its country

The Iranian embassy in Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the “inhumane and cowardly” killing of eight Pakistani workers yesterday in its country’s Sistan-Baluchestan province.

“All the eight Pakistani who were killed belong to Bahawalpur city of southern Punjab,” Iranian officials said, adding that they were staying at a car repair shop in Sistan-Baluchestan’s Mehrestan County.

A spokesman for the banned outfit, the Balochistan National Army (BNA), claimed responsibility for the incident through a statement issued to the media.

In a statement today, Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam strongly condemned the “inhumane and cowardly armed incident against eight Pakistani nationals”.

“Terrorism is a chronic plight and a common threat throughout the region by which the traitorous elements, in collaboration with international terrorism, target security and stability throughout the region,” the statement read.

“Combating this ominous phenomenon requires collective and joint efforts by all countries to eradicate all forms of terrorism and extremism that have claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people in recent decades,” Moghadam stressed.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief and sorrow over the “brutal killing” of the Pakistani workers, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

“The menace of terrorism is devastating for all regional countries,” the premier was quoted as saying.

He urged the Iranian government to arrest the perpetrators immediately, mete out “just punishment to them”, and bring forward the “reasons for this cruel act”.

PM Shehbaz also directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact the families of the deceased Pakistanis and Pakistan’s embassy in Iran for the safe return of their bodies.

According to reports, un­­known armed men barged into the workshop sometime in the night and, after tying their hands and feet, opened indiscriminate firing at the workers and killed them. Later, the attackers fled from the site.

The Iranian police rushed to the area after receiving information about the tragic incident, and after recovering the bodies, they were shifted to the hospital.

According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, the victims were identified as Dilshad Jind Wada, his son Danish, Naeem Fareed, Jaffar Ramazan and Aamir Liaquat from Samma Satta; Nasir from Musafir Khana; and Khalid and Jamshaid from Ahmadpur East.

Iranian authorities said the police were investigating the incident.

It was the second such incident in Sistan-Baluchestan, as nine Pakistani workers hailing from Punjab were gunned down by unidentified attackers on Jan 27, 2024 in the province.

That incident came the same month Pakistan conducted retaliatory strikes on terrorist hideouts in Sistan-Baluchestan after Iran laun­ched attacks on the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan here.

Balochistan, which borders Sistan-Baluchestan, has witnessed a spate of attacks targeting those hailing from Punjab.

In late March, five passengers were gunned down in a firing incident in the Kalmat area of Balochistan’s Gwadar district, with officials saying at least four of them belonged to Punjab.

Days before that, four labourers from Punjab were shot dead by unknown assailants in the Kalat district.

In February, seven Punjab-bound passengers were offloaded from a bus and shot dead in the province’s Barkhan district.

In August last year, when the province came under a spate of attacks by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army, 23 travellers were offloaded from trucks and buses and shot in the Musakhail district.

In two separate incidents in April 2024, nine people were killed after being forced off a bus near Noshki, while two labourers from Punjab were shot in Kech. The next month, seven barbers from Punjab were shot dead near Gwadar.

Bereaved families seek repatriation of bodies

Meanwhile, the heirs of the eight “motor mechanics and labourers” killed in the targeted killings have appealed to the government to ensure the repatriation of the bodies of their loved ones as soon as possible, the APP reported.

Talking to the media, Muhammad Sajjad, the brother of victim Jamshaid, appealed to the government to take immediate steps for the repatriation of his brother’s body.

The mother and widow of Khalid also requested that the bodies be brought back to Pakistan as soon as possible.

The APP quoted the bereaved relatives as saying they were in a “state of trauma and deep shock”. “Our beloved one was an innocent person who was murdered brutally. We are very poor people,” both said.

Dilshad’s sister said the murder of her brother came as a “big shock” to the family. She said those slain in the killings included her brother and two nephews. The sister appealed to the authorities that measures be taken for the bodies’ repatriation and justice be provided.

APP reported that Dilshad had taken along his son, nephew and other mechanics from Bahawalpur to work at a motor workshop he had established in the Hizabad rural area of Mehrestan.

They had been living in the workshop, which was used to dent and repair vehicles, for the last seven years, according to the report.