Pakistan news: At least 20 miners killed, 7 injured in armed attack on coal mine in Balochistan

Pakistan news: Armed men killed at least 20 miners and injured another seven people in an attack on Junaid Coal company, a private mine located in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, on Friday, police said, according to media reports.

The latest attack in the restive Balochistan province came days ahead of a major security summit, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), being hosted from October 15-16 in the capital, Islamabad. 

The district hospital has received 20 dead bodies and six injured patients, a doctor told Reuters.

Up to 40 attackers fired at the miners for half an hour starting around 12:30 am (local time) “before escaping into the night,” said Asim Shafi, the head of police in the Duki district where the attack took place, reported AFP.

Humayun Khan, the police station house officer for the town, said, “A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the Duki area in the wee hours using heavy weapons,” reported Reuters. He said the attackers also fired rockets and lobbed grenades at the coal mine and damaged the machinery used for the mining before fleeing, reported AP.

According to authorities, 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, reported AP.

No group has 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.

Meanwhile, 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 labourers." He added the attackers were cruel and had an agenda to destabilise Pakistan. “The killing of these innocent labourers would be avenged,” he said in a statement.

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(With agency inputs)