United News of Bangladesh

At least 40 people were killed and eight others injured after an overcrowded passenger bus plunged into a rocky ravine in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province early Friday, officials said. The accident occurred in the Dana Sar area, near the border between Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, when the speeding bus went out of control and fell into a deep ravine, according to Shahid Rind, spokesperson for the Balochistan government. Rind said the bus was carrying more passengers than its capacity after taking aboard people from another bus that had broken down along the route. Rescue teams reached the scene and began efforts to identify those killed in the crash. President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy, offering condolences to the families of the victims and wishing the injured a speedy recovery. He also directed the relevant authorities to ensure the injured receive the best possible medical care. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti also expressed grief over the loss of lives and instructed officials to provide the best available treatment to those injured. Road accidents are frequent in Pakistan due to poor road conditions, weak enforcement of traffic regulations and unsafe driving, especially on mountainous roads. In May, 17 people were killed and five others injured when a minibus crashed into a bus parked along a motorway in northwestern Pakistan.

Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded another seven in Pakistan’s southwest, a police official said Friday. It’s the latest attack in restive Balochistan province and comes days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital. Police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said the gunmen stormed the accommodations at the coal mine in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire. Most of the men were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan. Nobody claimed immediate responsibility for the attack. The province is home to separatist groups who want independence. They accuse the federal government in Islamabad of unfairly exploiting oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan at the expense of locals. Read: Gunmen kill dozens in multiple attacks in one of the worst violence in a Pakistani province On Monday, a group called the Baloch Liberation Army said it carried out an attack on Chinese nationals outside Pakistan's biggest airport. There are thousands of Chinese working in the country, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. The explosion, which the BLA said was the work of a suicide bomber, also raised questions about the ability of Pakistani forces to protect high-profile events or foreigners in the country. Islamabad is hosting a summit next week of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a grouping founded by China and Russia to counter Western alliances. Read more: Gunmen kill 23 passengers taken from vehicles in an attack in southwest Pakistan