QUETTA -- Five more bodies of suspected Pakistani migrants have been found in southwestern Pakistan, in the same area where 15 corpses were discovered three days earlier, officials said, AFP reported Saturday (November 18).
The bullet-riddled bodies were found in Kech District, Balochistan Province, near the Iranian border. The five migrants had been killed two days earlier, said provincial government spokesman Anwaar ul Haq.
All of the migrants, including the 15 killed earlier last week, were ethnic Punjabis who were illegally traveling to Iran, he said.
Senior administration official Akbar Harifal said the killings seemed to be the work of militant groups.
Human traffickers use the Balochistan route to smuggle workers from Punjab Province to European countries via Iran. Some die on the way from harsh conditions or militant attacks.
The army said troops Friday (November 17) killed a Baloch militant commander, Younas Taukali, 25km (15 miles) north of the area where the bodies of the migrant workers were recovered.
"Terrorist Younas was involved in killing 15 innocent people belonging to Punjab on November 15," an army statement said, adding he had also ambushed security force convoys and killed many civilians.
