At least seven bus passengers were killed by terrorists in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, the officials said on Wednesday. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have strongly condemned the killing of bus passengers near the Barkhan city of Balochistan describing it as a heinous and reprehensible act.

According to the Barkhan Assistant Commissioner Khadim Hussain, the heinous terror attack took place on the National Highway, where unidentified armed men stopped a passenger bus and opened fire. Later on, the gunmen then boarded the bus and forcibly took seven individuals to a nearby mountain and shot them dead.

The Prime Minister directed the authorities concerned to bring the perpetrators to justice. He said that the killers of innocent citizens would have to pay a heavy price for their act.

According to the rescue and security officials, the dead bodies have been shifted to a nearby hospital in Rakni. As per reports, the bus was travelling from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan to Faisalabad, the third largest city of Pakistan and had at least 45 passengers on board.

Soon after the attack, security and police authorities cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to apprehend the perpetrators of the attack. On the other hand, a spokesperson of the Balochistan government has said that Police had launched an investigation into Barkan tragedy and security forces have cordoned off the entire area to nab the terrorists.