8 Pak workers killed after Baloch militants open fire at car workshop in Iran

Eight Pakistani workers were killed by Baloch militants who stormed a car repair workshop and opened fire after tying up the victims in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, officials said on Sunday.

All eight workers hailed from several areas of Punjab, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

It said that the armed men barged into the workshop sometime on Saturday night in a village in the Meharistan district and, after tying the workers’ hands and feet, opened indiscriminate firing and killed them. Later, the attackers fled from the site.

A spokesman for the banned Balochistan Army (BNA) claimed responsibility for the killing of eight Pakistanis.

The incident prompted Islamabad to demand "full cooperation" from Tehran in investigating these "inhumane and cowardly" murders.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the inhumane and cowardly killing of its nationals in Iran. We hope for the Iranian side’s full cooperation in investigating the matter and in timely repatriation of victims’ remains,” the Foreign Office here said in a statement.

It said that Pakistani officials in Iran were in “constant touch” with the authorities there for a probe into the incident and the repatriation of bodies.

All the eight Pakistanis who were killed belonged to Bahawalpur city in southern Punjab, the Iranian officials said, adding that they were staying at the workshop where they used to dent, polish, paint and repair cars.

Iranian authorities have said that the Iranian police were investigating the incident.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed deep sorrow, calling the attack a brutal act of terrorism. He urged Iran to arrest the perpetrators, ensure their swift punishment, and disclose the motive.

“Combating this ominous phenomenon requires collective and joint efforts by all countries,” Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said while denouncing the killings. He termed terrorism a shared threat to regional security.

It was the second such incident in the Sistan Baluchestan. In January of last year, armed men killed nine Pakistanis in Saravan city who were also working in Iran as motor mechanics and staying at a workshop.

Local groups in Pakistan and Iran are part of a decades-long struggle for greater autonomy in Balochistan.

Last year, in January, Iran attacked militants inside Pakistan. Pakistan retaliated with a missile strike inside Iranian territory, escalating border tensions.

Iran claimed it was targeting Jaish al-Adl, a militant group active against Iran, while Pakistan said it was aiming at the "hideouts" of two militant groups inside Iran, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).

Pakistan's Balochistan has long grappled with insurgency and unrest. Locals, particularly the Balochs, have blamed governments for exploiting and profiting from Balochistan's resources while neglecting the development of the region itself.