Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded another seven in Pakistan’s southwest, a police official said Friday, drawing condemnation from authorities as a search was launched for the attackers.
The latest attack in restive Balochistan province came days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital.
The gunmen stormed the accommodations at the coal mine in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire, police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said. He said the attackers also fired rockets and lobbed grenades at the coal mine and damaged the machinery used for the mining before fleeing.
Most of the men attacked were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan. Angered over the attack, local shop owners pulled their shutters down to observe a daylong strike against the killing.
No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, but the suspicion is likely to fall on the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, which often targets civilians and security forces.
Authorities say police and paramilitary forces are searching for the attackers.
The group committed multiple attacks in August that killed more than 50 people, while authorities responded by killing 21 insurgents in the province. Those killed included 23 passengers, mostly from eastern Punjab province, who were fatally shot after being taken from buses, vehicles and trucks in Musakhail district in Baluchistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his deep sorrow over the killings and vowed to eliminate terrorism.
Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister in Balochistan said “terrorists have once again targeted poor laborers.” He said the attackers were cruel and had an agenda to destabilize Pakistan. “The killing of these innocent laborers would be avenged,” he said in a statement.
The group committed multiple attacks in August that killed more than 50 people, while authorities responded by killing 21 insurgents in the province. Those killed included 23 passengers, mostly from eastern Punjab province, who were fatally shot after being taken from buses, vehicles and trucks in Musakhail district in Baluchistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his deep sorrow over the killings and vowed to eliminate terrorism.
Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister in Balochistan said “terrorists have once again targeted poor laborers.” He said the attackers were cruel and had an agenda to destabilize Pakistan. “The killing of these innocent laborers would be avenged,” he said in a statement.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-miners-killed-b4302a6af4888c009212bea622f76679#