QUETTA, Pakistan, March 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Three migrant barbers were shot 
dead by gunmen in a southwestern province of Pakistan, police said Monday, 
where violence by separatist militants is rising.

Attacks on labourers from other parts of the country have increased in 
Balochistan, with militants accusing them of profiting from the region.

Migrant hairdressers, accused by militants of being informants to the 
military, have repeatedly been targeted in the province, which borders 
Afghanistan and Iran.

"Three Sindhi barbers lost their lives," Muhammad Zaid, a police officer in 
Panjgur district, told AFP.

The gunmen arrived on a motorbike, entered the barber shop late on Sunday 
evening and opened fire, police said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is the most active group in 
the region, who accuse outsiders of exploiting its rich resources.

In February, militants executed seven Punjabi labourers after stopping a bus 
and identifying where they were from.

Eleven Punjabi labourers were also killed after being abducted from a bus in 
the city of Naushki in April last year, and six Punjabi barbers were shot in 
May the same year.

In a separate incident on Sunday, two Pakistan army soldiers were killed and 
one was injured during an exchange of fire, said Syed Dilawar, a police 
officer in the Bolan district of Balochistan.

The soldiers had launched an operation after receiving information about 
militants hiding in the mountains, leading to a firefight that lasted for 
hours.

Two counter terrorism police officials were also shot dead by militants in 
the Kohat district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday morning, 
local police officer Fazal Waqar said.

Violence has rebounded near the border with Afghanistan in the past several 
years, with attacks in cities increasingly rare.