Suspected militants ambushed a vehicle carrying a district judge in restive southwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing him and his security guard before fleeing the scene, police and government officials said. The attack took place in Mastung, a district in Balochistan province known for separatist insurgent activity.
Abdul Rauf, a local police chief in Mastung, stated that Judge Abdul Hakim Kakar was en route from Quetta, the provincial capital, to Mastung to preside over cases when the ambush occurred.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the killings. However, suspicion is expected to fall on Baloch separatist insurgents, including the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, who have escalated attacks across the province in recent months. The United States designated the Baloch Liberation Army a terrorist organization in 2019. Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but least populous province, has a history of separatist insurgency and attacks by the Pakistani Taliban.