Key highways in Balochistan banned for night travel

The Balochistan government has banned night-time travel — mostly for public transport — on major highways in several districts amid a deteriorating security situation, it emerged on Sunday.

The move comes amid a rise in terrorist attacks across Balochistan, including multiple incidents this year where passengers were targeted and gunned down.

The deputy commissioners of Gwadar, Kachhi, Zhob, Noshki and Musakhel districts issued notifications banning travel at night time. The Quetta administration also ordered that public transport departing from the city be barred from plying the roads at night.

Quetta Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told Dawn.com that he chaired a meeting, where “it was decided that public transport would be prohibited from travelling on the Karachi-Quetta highway (N-25), also known as the RCD Highway, at night, disconnecting Balochistan from Sindh.”

It was also stressed to ensure that buses and coaches depart in a timely manner to avoid delays in the journey.

“Trackers and CCTV cameras in all buses and coaches would be kept functional, while transporters have been told to cooperate with the government directives,” Shafqaat said.

In a notification issued on March 28, Gwadar DC Hamoodur Rehman said all public transport on the Makran Coastal Highway (N-10) would be banned at night till further orders.

It further said that keeping the “passengers’ security” in mind, the administration and the private transport association had decided to also restrict the departure timings from Karachi, Gwadar and Quetta to ensure that they arrive at their destination before night falls.

All transport heading from Karachi or Quetta to Gwadar would depart between 5am and 10am, while those setting from the port city to the two cities would do so between 6am and 1pm.

In a similar notification by Kachhi DC Jahanzaib Langove, all public and private transport was directed not to travel on the Quetta-Sukkur highway (N-65) between 5pm and 5am from March 28 till further orders, disconnecting the province from Sindh at night.

Vehicles heading from Sibi to Quetta during the proscribed timings would be halted at the Nari River bank in Sibi, while those coming from the provincial capital would be stopped at Kolpur, the notification added.

A separate order by Zhob DC Mehboob Ahmad barred public buses and coaches from travelling through Zhob on the N-50 National Highway — linking Quetta to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan — at night.

The transporters were told not to travel between 6pm and 6am from March 27 till further orders are issued.

Noshki DC Amjad Soomro and Musakhel DC Juma Dad Mandokhail also issued similar notifications, banning public transport from plying the Quetta-Taftan (N-40) and Multan-Loralai (N-70) highways between 6pm and 6am.

Attacks on highways

According to Balochistan government spokesman Shahid Rind, national highways have been closed 76 times for various reasons since January 1.

Militants in Balochistan have recently intensified their attacks, with the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) emerging as a key perpetrator of terrorist violence in Pakistan in 2024.

Most recently, armed men blocked the Coastal Highway in Gwadar and killed six people — all hailing from Punjab — after disembarking them from a Karachi-bound bus.

A Jaffar Express train was hijacked earlier this month, in which 26 hostages, including 18 security personnel, lost their lives. Five more security personnel were martyred during the operation.

Last month, militants blocked various points on the Quetta-Sukkur N-65 highway in Bolan and seized weapons from the security team of Balochistan Parliamentary Secretary Mir Liaquat Ali Lehri.

The previous month, seven Punjab-bound passengers were offloaded from a bus and shot dead in Balochistan’s Barkhan district.

In August last year, when BLA launched numerous attacks across the province, 23 travellers were offloaded from trucks and buses and shot in the Musakhail district.

In April 2024, nine people were forced off a bus and shot dead after gunmen blockaded the Quetta-Taftan Highway N-40 near Noshki.