BEIJING: China strongly condemns the attacks in Pakistan and will continue to give strong support to the country in anti-terrorism action, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday at a regular press briefing.

23 bus passengers offloaded, shot dead after identity check in Balochistan’s Musakhel

The attacks in Balochistan were the most widespread in years.

At least 73 people were killed in Balochistan when terrorists attacked police stations, railway lines and highways and security forces launched retaliatory operations on Monday.

On Sunday night, armed men blocked a highway, marched 23 passengers off vehicles, and shot them after checking their identity cards, a senior superintendent of police, Ayub Achakzai said.

As many as 35 vehicles were set on fire on the highway in the area of Musakhel.

“The armed men also not only killed passengers but also killed the drivers of trucks carrying coal,” said Hameed Zahir, deputy commissioner of the area.

Moreover, on Sunday, six security personnel and four civilians were killed in clashes with terrorists who stormed a station of the Balochistan Levies in the central district of Kalat, police official Dostain Khan Dashti told Reuters.

Balochistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, is Pakistan’s largest province by size, but the least populated and it remains largely underdeveloped, with high levels of poverty.