No group instantly claimed duty for the assault and the motive for the capturing was unclear.
Gunmen have attacked a bus close to the city of Chilas in northern Pakistan, killing eight passengers and injuring almost two dozen others, district and regional officers say.
Muhammad Ali Johar, a spokesman for the regional authorities, mentioned the attackers opened fireplace on the bus on Saturday night and the wounded had been taken to an area hospital.
Ghulam Abbas, a spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan Police, informed the dpa information company that two troopers had been amongst these killed.
In line with Abbas, one other 26 passengers had been wounded within the assault – some with bullet accidents.
The bus was travelling the Karakoram Freeway, one of many highest roads on the planet.
The assault, in line with officers, occurred at about 6:30pm (13:30 GMT) when the attackers opened fireplace on the bus and it subsequently collided with an oncoming lorry.
No group instantly claimed duty for the assault and the motive for the capturing was unclear.
“The government will ensure that the terrorists involved in the attack are given the appropriate punishment,” the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Haji Gulbar Khan, mentioned in an announcement.
Chilas lies within the mountainous area of Gilgit Baltistan, close to the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the place assaults have been rising in recent times, together with some claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Chilas is a well-liked stopping level for vacationers and can be close to a China-backed dam below development.
The assault got here amid an uptick in armed assaults throughout the nation, significantly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan. Each provinces border Afghanistan.
In July, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a political rally in northwestern Pakistan’s Bajaur district, killing at the least 44 folks and wounding almost 200, in line with officers.
Final month, a Pakistan Air Power base got here below assault in central Punjab province, which the navy mentioned was repulsed efficiently.