Police in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province have identified five bullet-riddled bodies found hanging from electricity poles in Dalbandin, as Afghan nationals, a private news outlet reported.
The discovery of the bodies, bound to electricity pylons in the remote settlement about 340 kilometers from Quetta, shocked local residents. Dalbandin, which shares borders with Iran and Afghanistan, was rocked by the incident when the bodies were spotted near a government-run college.
Senior Superintendent of Police Hussain Lehri said that authorities quickly moved the bodies to the District Headquarters Hospital for autopsy. During the medico-legal examination, it was confirmed that the deceased were residents of Lashkar Gah city in Afghanistan.
Lehri added that the bodies were later transferred to Quetta, where they will be kept in a morgue until family members arrive to claim them.
Dalbandin is located close to the Afghan province of Helmand and is a frequent crossing point for individuals illegally entering Pakistan. The region, bordering both Afghanistan and Iran, has long been a site of tension, partly due to the low-level insurgency by Baloch separatist groups who accuse Islamabad of exploiting Balochistan’s natural resources. The Pakistani government denies these accusations, asserting that it is engaged in development projects aimed at benefiting the local population.
Lehri also mentioned that the five Afghans were killed by unknown assailants outside Dalbandin before their bodies were displayed on the poles in the town. A video that surfaced about 20 days ago showed the victims in the captivity of the banned Islamist group Jaish-ul-Adl. However, Lehri noted that the investigation is ongoing.
Jaish-ul-Adl, a militant group operating in southeastern Iran, primarily in the Sistan and Balochistan province, emerged in 2012 as a successor to the insurgent group Jundallah. The group is known for its violent attacks against Iranian security forces, with Tehran accusing Pakistan of harboring them—an allegation consistently denied by Pakistani authorities.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the killings of the Afghan nationals.
