QUETTA: At least four laborers belonging to Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province were killed on Saturday after unidentified gunmen targeted them some 40 kilometers from the Mangochar area, situated in Balochistan’s Kalat district, according to a senior government functionary.
This is not the first time laborers from Punjab have been targeted in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, which shares porous borders with Iran and Afghanistan and has experienced a low-scale insurgency by Baloch separatist groups against the Pakistani state.
Baloch nationalists have long accused the Pakistani government and the country’s most prosperous Punjab province of monopolizing profits from Balochistan’s abundant natural resources, saying it has led to their political marginalization and economic exploitation.
Pakistani administrations have denied these allegations, however, citing several development initiatives launched in the province to improve local living conditions.
“Five laborers were drilling on private agricultural land in Mangochar when armed men targeted them with gunshots, killing four laborers at around 2:30 in the afternoon today,” Ali Gul Umrani, Assistant Commissioner Mangochar, told Arab News.
“One laborer survived the attack and the unidentified gunmen fled the area,” he added.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, last month, seven Punjab-based passengers were killed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), whose militants intercepted a passenger bus and off-boarded those passengers after checking their national identity cards in Barkhan district.
“The laborers targeted today belonged to Punjab’s Sadiqabad district,” Umrani informed, adding their bodies were being shifted to their native villages.
The latest attack against Punjabi laborers comes days after BLA militants hijacked a Peshawar-bound passenger train in the rugged and mountainous Bolan region, killing more than 30 passengers, including Pakistan Army soldiers.
The BLA took hundreds of passengers captive, and the situation persisted for nearly 36 hours before security forces launched a rescue operation in which all 33 militants were killed.
Reacting to the Mangochar attack, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killing of the laborers and prayed for their departed souls.
“In this hour of grief, we stand with the families of these poor, hardworking laborers,” he said.
“Those who target laborers and working-class individuals are enemies of humanity,” he added. “We will not rest until all forms of terrorism are eradicated from the country.”
Gunmen kill four laborers in Pakistan’s restive southwest amid renewed militant violence
https://arab.news/gjvrc
Gunmen kill four laborers in Pakistan’s restive southwest amid renewed militant violence
- The incident happened in Balochistan’s Kalat district where a group of agriculture workers were shot
- According to a senior official in the area, the laborers belonged to Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province
Pakistan urges developed nations, global institutions to expand role in climate financing
- Pakistan is recognized among countries worldwide most affected by climate-induced disasters
- Planning minister stresses redesigning global financial system on principles of responsibility, equity
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal this week called on developed nations and international financial institutions to play a greater role in helping developing countries adopt green technologies at lower costs, state-run media reported.
Pakistan has suffered frequent climate change-induced disasters over the past couple of years, ranging from floods, droughts, heatwaves, cyclones and other irregular weather patterns.
This year the South Asian country reported over 1,000 deaths from floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains and the melting of glaciers.
“He [Iqbal] said Pakistan has urged developed countries and international financial institutions to expand their role in climate financing to enable developing nations to adopt green technologies at lower costs,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Saturday.
The minister was speaking at the Second Asia Energy Transition Summit held at Pakistani university LUMS on Saturday.
Iqbal warned that climate change is intensifying emergencies and increasing economic burdens on vulnerable countries, adding that financial incentives and concessional financing have become indispensable for sustainable climate action.
“He further emphasized the need to redesign the global financial system based on the principles of collective responsibility and equity,” APP said.
The minister noted that Pakistan has been introducing comprehensive reforms in its development agenda to promote renewable energy, solar power and green technological solutions.
The country, he said, possesses “strong solar potential,” a robust renewable energy market, a wide talent pool in engineering and science and an enabling environment for green innovation.
Pakistan has regularly urged developed countries to fulfill past pledges and provide easy access to climate funding without attaching conditions, especially at Conference of Parties (COP30) climate summits.
Islamabad was instrumental in getting the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) established at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in 2022. The Loss and Damage Fund aims to help developing and least developed countries cope with both economic and non-economic impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events and slow-onset crises like sea-level rise and droughts.
