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Gunmen hijack buses in Pakistan, kill 19

Quetta - Around 20 armed men hijacked two buses in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, killed 19 passengers and battled with security forces on Friday, a Pakistani official said.

Baluchistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said the gunmen let about 50 passengers go and took at least 25 into the mountains. Security forces surrounded and battled the gunmen, and were able to recover six passengers, one of whom was wounded.

Baluchistan Information Minister Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal said the abductors killed the 19 passengers and left their bodies behind as they escaped deeper into the mountains. He said the assailants still have some passengers, without giving an exact number, and that the operation to recover them is still underway.

Suicide bomber

Baluchistan is the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by Baluch nationalists, separatists and other groups demanding more autonomy and a greater share of the province's gas and mineral resources.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a stadium in Lahore where a cricket match was underway between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, said Information Minister Pervez Rashid.

He said the bomber had tried to get closer to the stadium but was stopped by police. The bomber then detonated his payload, killing a police officer and wounding six others.


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