Pakistani armed forces opened fire on two young men who had gone for a picnic in Balochistan’s Kech district, killing one and injuring another, local residents said on Wednesday.
Residents identified the deceased as Ismail, son of Ibrahim, and the injured man as Nauman, son of Haidar. They said the injured man remained in the custody of Pakistani forces and that no information had been released about his condition.
Pakistani authorities have not commented on the incident.
There has been a rise in similar incidents in recent months across Balochistan. In late October, a drone strike in the Chiltan Mountains near Quetta injured at least nine civilians, according to hospital officials and local residents. The Pakistani military had said the strike targeted militants, but residents and medical staff said the victims were civilians at the Hazarganji–Chiltan National Park, a popular picnic site.
Hospital staff said nine injured men were brought in with shrapnel wounds and identified them as Jahanzeb Muhammad Shahi, Muhammad Imran Sumalani, Maqbool Ahmed, Zahid, Manzoor Ahmed, Daulat Khan, Arbab, Rafeeq Lehri and Wajid Ali.
Residents in Kech’s Buleda area have previously also reported similar incidents in which civilians out for leisure were fired upon, saying such cases were becoming more frequent.