Three migrant hairdressers shot dead in southwest Pakistan

AFP | Quetta, Pakistan
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Three migrant barbers were shot dead by gunmen in a southwestern province of Pakistan, police said Monday, where violence by separatist militants is rising.

Attacks on labourers from other parts of the country have increased in Balochistan, with militants accusing them of profiting from the region.

Migrant hairdressers, accused by militants of being informants to the military, have repeatedly been targeted in the province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

"Three Sindhi barbers lost their lives," Muhammad Zaid, a police officer in Panjgur district, told AFP.

The gunmen arrived on a motorbike, entered the barber shop late on Sunday evening and opened fire, police said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is the most active group in the region, who accuse outsiders of exploiting its rich resources.

In February, militants executed seven Punjabi labourers after stopping a bus and identifying where they were from.

Eleven Punjabi labourers were also killed after being abducted from a bus in the city of Naushki in April last year, and six Punjabi barbers were shot in May the same year.

In a separate incident on Sunday, two Pakistan army soldiers were killed and one was injured during an exchange of fire, said Syed Dilawar, a police officer in the Bolan district of Balochistan.

The soldiers had launched an operation after receiving information about militants hiding in the mountains, leading to a firefight that lasted for hours.

Two counter terrorism police officials were also shot dead by militants in the Kohat district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday morning, local police officer Fazal Waqar said.

Violence has rebounded near the border with Afghanistan in the past several years, with attacks in cities increasingly rare.