On the night of Saturday, April 12, 2025, eight Pakistani nationals were brutally murdered in a targeted attack at a car repair workshop in the Mehrestan district of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, near the Pakistan border. The victims, all from Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province, were working as auto mechanics and were residing at the workshop.
According to reports, unidentified armed assailants stormed the workshop in the village of Haizabad Paein, tied the workers’ hands and feet, and shot them at close range. The victims included Dilshad, who owned the workshop, his son Naeem, and other workers named Jafar, Danish, and Nasir.
The banned separatist group Balochistan National Army (BNA) claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging that the victims were associated with Pakistan’s intelligence services. However, the victims were reportedly civilians working in the automotive repair sector.
This incident has heightened tensions between Iran and Pakistan, both of which have been dealing with cross-border militant activities. In January 2024, a similar attack in Saravan, Iran, resulted in the deaths of nine Pakistani laborers.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killings as a "heinous act of terrorism" and urged Iranian authorities to swiftly apprehend the perpetrators and disclose the motives behind the attack. He also emphasized the need for a coordinated regional strategy to combat terrorism.
The Iranian embassy in Islamabad also condemned the attack, labeling it as "inhumane and cowardly," and called for joint efforts to eradicate terrorism in the region.
Pakistani diplomatic missions in Tehran and Zahedan are actively coordinating with Iranian authorities to investigate the incident and facilitate the repatriation of the victims' bodies. The Pakistani embassy has requested consular access to verify the identities of the deceased and is providing support to the bereaved families.
This tragic event underscores the ongoing security challenges in the Iran-Pakistan border region, where militant groups have exploited the porous frontier to carry out attacks, further complicating the bilateral relations between the two countries.
FP/Raj
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