GUNMEN in south-west Pakistan killed at least 31 people in two separate attacks today, with reports of other shootings and unrest across the same province, police and officials said.

Senior police official Ayub Achakzai said that 23 people had been fatally shot after being identified and taken from buses, vehicles and trucks in Musakhail, a district in Baluchistan province.

The attackers burned at least 10 vehicles before fleeing the scene.

In a separate attack, gunmen killed at least nine people, including four police officers and five passers by, in Qalat district also in Baluchistan, authorities said.

Insurgents blew up a railway track in Bolan, attacked a police station in Mastung and attacked and burned vehicles in Gwadar, all districts in Baluchistan. No casualties were reported in those attacks.

Baluchistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency in Pakistan, with an array of separatist groups staging attacks, mainly on security forces. The separatists have been demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. 

Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence in Baluchistan has persisted.

The attack in Musakhail came hours after the outlawed Baluch Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group warned people to stay away from highways, as they launched attacks on security forces in various parts of the province. 

But there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest killings.

Separatists often ask people for their ID cards, and then abduct or kill those who are from outside the province. 

Uzma Bukhari, a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial government, denounced the latest killings, saying the “attacks are a matter of grave concern” and urging the Baluchistan provincial government to “step up efforts to eliminate BLA terrorists.”

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi labelled the attack in Musakhail as “barbaric” and vowed that those who were behind it would not escape justice.

Later, Mr Naqvi also condemned the killings in Qalat.