Ten labourers working on a road project near Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar port in the Balochistan Province were shot dead by gunmen on Saturday.
Gwadar Deputy Commissioner Naeem Bazai said the labourers were from Sindh Province.
Eight of the labourers died on the spot while two succumbed to their injuries while being taken to hospital,
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The gunmen fled the scene after the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Such attacks have become common in the mineral rich Province, which is plagued by separatist insurgency since 2004.
Suspected separatists often target non-native labourers in the Province. Last month, four Sindhi labourers were gunned down by suspected militants in Kharan district.
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Balochistan’s Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti confirmed the death toll. Condemning the incident, he said, “We will not bow down before terrorists.”
Personnel from Balochistan’s Frontier Corps and the paramilitary Levies, along with police, have reached the spot and an investigation was under way.
The attack comes a day after a suicide bombing targeted a convoy of Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, deputy leader of the country’s Senate. The attack in Mustang killed 26 people.
Saturday’s attack happened near the Gwadar port, built with Chinese funding, as Pakistan and China ink agreements at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing to boost cooperation.
The deep-water port has a strategic importance for the Belt and Road initiative, a part of which — the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — connects Pakistan’s southern region to China’s western Xinjiang region through rail and roads.
The CPEC is billed as a “game-changer” and manifestation of the strategic partnership between Pakistan and China.
Pakistan has deployed a Maritime Security Force and Special Security Division to protect projects under CPEC, including Gwadar. The forces have been deployed to ensure the safety of locals and foreigners working on projects.