A group of armed men kidnapped and killed nine bus passengers in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials confirmed on Friday. According to provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind, the passengers were kidnapped from multiple buses on Thursday evening. The attackers then took them into the nearby mountainous region, as reported by the news agency Reuters.

Another government official, Naveed Alam, said that the bodies of the victims were discovered overnight. “Their bodies with bullet wounds were found in the mountains overnight,” he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killings so far. However, similar incidents in the past have been linked to separatist Baloch militants, who have targeted individuals after identifying them as being from the eastern Punjab province.

The Baloch Liberation Army, one of the most active insurgent groups in the region, has long operated in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran. Ethnic Baloch militants accuse the Pakistani authorities of exploiting Balochistan’s resources to benefit the Punjab province, leading to ongoing unrest and violence.