Nine bus passengers kidnapped, killed in Pakistan

Pakistan ambulance
Nine people have been kidnapped from a bus in Pakistan and murdered by a group of armed men. -AP

Armed men have killed nine bus passengers after kidnapping them in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province.

The passengers had been kidnapped from multiple buses on Thursday evening, provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind said on Friday.

Their bodies with bullet wounds were found in mountains overnight, another government official Naveed Alam said.

No one has claimed responsibility.

Separatist Baloch militants have in the past been involved in such incidents, killing passengers after identifying them as coming from the eastern Punjab province.

The Baloch Liberation Army is the strongest of a number of insurgent groups long operating in the area bordering Afghanistan and Iran, a mineral-rich region.

The ethnic Baloch militants blame authorities in Pakistan for stealing their regional resources to fund spending in Punjab province.