TEHRAN, Aug. 26 (MNA) – Gunmen fatally shot 23 passengers after identifying them and taking them from buses, vehicles and trucks in one of the deadliest attacks in restive southwestern Pakistan, police and officials said Monday.

The killings occurred overnight in Musakhail, a district in Baluchistan province, senior police official Ayub Achakzai said.

The attackers burned at least 10 vehicles before fleeing the scene, according to The Washington Post.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in separate statements called the attack “barbaric” and vowed that those who were behind it would not escape justice.

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