Incident Summary:
05/29/2015: Assailants hijacked two buses travelling to Karachi and abducted 30 passengers in Mastung district, Balochistan province, Pakistan. Five of the hostages were rescued by security forces and 22 others were found dead later that day. The fate of the remaining three hostages is unknown. The United Baloch Army (UBA) claimed responsibility for the incident and stated that the attack was carried out in retaliation to military operations in the area.
Overview
GTD ID:
201505290002
When:
2015-05-29
Country:
Pakistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Balochistan
City:
Mastung district
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Hijacking |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Transportation |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Unknown |
| Specific Description |
Buses |
| Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
Yes |
| Number of Hostages |
30 |
| US Hostages |
0 |
| Outcome |
Combination |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
| Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| Automatic rifles and other firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
| Additional Information |
Casualty numbers for this incident conflict across sources. Following GTD protocol, the most recent reliable estimates are reported here. Five of the hostage victims were released shortly after the abduction. Twenty-two hostages were killed the same day. The fate of the remaining victims is unknown. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| United Baloch Army (UBA) |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
15 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
22 Fatalities / 3 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
22 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
3 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| "At Least 21 Killed In Pakistan As Gunmen Storm Buses: Officials," AFP (World Service), May 30, 2015. |
| "Pakistan: Curbing violence: Karachi-style operation planned for Balochistan," The Express Tribune Online, May 31, 2015. |
| "Gunmen kill 22 passengers in Pak," The Gulf Today, May 30, 2015. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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