QUETTA: Eight bodies bearing bullet wounds and signs of torture have been recovered from different areas of Zhob and Musakhail districts over the past three days, officials said on Sunday, raising concerns over a series of violent incidents in the region.
According to local authorities, four bodies were found on January 2 in an abandoned area of Musakhail district, while four more bodies were recovered later from a remote area along the border between Zhob and Musakhail districts. The victims were reported to be male, though their identities were initially unknown.
Officials said residents of the border area alerted the local administration in Zhob after spotting the bodies in an isolated location. Following the information, personnel of the Levies Force were dispatched to the site and took custody of the bodies.
Assistant Commissioner Musakhail Najeeb Ullah Kakar said the bodies recovered near the district border were shifted to a basic health unit in Kingri for legal formalities. “All the four unknown individuals were shot from close range, which caused their death on the spot,” he said, adding that preliminary examinations indicated multiple bullet injuries.
Mr Kakar said that the total number of bodies recovered in Musakhail over the last three days had reached eight. He confirmed that the four bodies found earlier on January 2 were also discovered in an abandoned area of Musakhail and showed clear signs of gunshot wounds.
Authorities said that three of the four bodies recovered earlier were later identified by local residents. According to the assistant commissioner, the identified victims belonged to different areas of Harnai district. The fourth body from that group remains unidentified.
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Security officials said investigations were under way to determine the motive behind the killings and to establish whether the incidents were linked. They added that no arrests had been made so far.
The recovery sites are located in sparsely populated and mountainous areas, which officials said often complicates timely detection and investigation. Levies officials have increased patrols in the affected areas as part of precautionary measures.
The AC said that over the last three days eight bodies have been found so far.https://t.co/EnMU4mJeSN
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) January 5, 2026
Local authorities said forensic examinations and post-mortem procedures would be carried out to gather further evidence. They added that information from the identified victims’ families could help investigators trace possible leads.
Senior officials in the district administration said they were coordinating with law enforcement agencies to assess the security situation and prevent further incidents. They urged the public to report any suspicious activity in remote areas.
No group has claimed responsibility for the killings, and officials stressed that it was too early to speculate on the nature of the crime. Further updates are expected as investigations progress.
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