Gunmen kill 23 passengers taken from vehicles in an attack in southwest Pakistan

Separatists in Baluchistan have often killed workers and others from the country’s eastern Punjab as part of a campaign to force them to leave the province. (File photo: Reuters)

Gunmen fatally shot 23 passengers after identifying them and taking them from buses, vehicles and trucks in one of the deadliest attacks in restive southwestern Pakistan, police and officials said Monday.

The killings occurred overnight in Kusakhail, a district in Baluchistan province, a senior police official Ayub Achakzai. The attackers burned at least 10 vehicles before fleeing the scene.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi called the attack “barbaric” and vowed that those who were behind it would not escape justice.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but separatists in Baluchistan have often killed workers and others from the country‍‍`s eastern Punjab as part of a campaign to force them to leave the province, which for years has experienced a low-level insurgency.

Most such previous killings have been blamed on the outlawed Baluchistan Liberation Army and other groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Islamic militants also have a presence in the province.