11 coal miners gunned down in Balochistan

By News Desk

QUETTA: Gunmen in Balochistan killed at least 11 workers at a coal mine in the remote Macch area on Sunday, officials said, in what the Prime Minister condemned as “a cowardly inhumane act of terrorism”.

“Dead bodies of the 11 miners have been taken to a local hospital,” Khalid Durrani, a government official in the area, told AFP. The attack, before dawn on Sunday, took place in the far-flung and mountainous Machh area — 60 kilometres southeast of Quetta — while the miners slept, Durrani said. He said the mine was deep in the mountains.

A security official told AFP the attackers first separated the miners, tied their hands and feet, took them out into the hills and later killed them. Four were said to be critically wounded. Both Durrani and the security official said the victims belonged to the Hazara community.

The miners were shot at close range, according to the police. The assailants fled after the attack. Officials said police and members of the local paramilitary force were on the scene, where a search operation had been launched to trace the attackers.

Dozens of local people and family members briefly blocked the National Highway in the area, demanding protection. They demanded the provincial government to take all possible measures to arrest the murderers as soon as possible.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. In a tweet, Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned “the killing of 11 innocent coal miners in Machh” as a “cowardly inhumane act of terrorism”.

The Prime Minister directed the Frontier Corps to use all resources to apprehend the killers and bring them to justice. “The families of the victims will not be left abandoned by the government,” he said.

Interior minister Sheikh Rashid ordered the Balochistan police chief to submit a report. In a tweet, the Rashid said terrorists would not succeed in their nefarious designs and those involved in this heinous act deserve no leniency. He said such cowardly and inhumane act could not bow the nation’s commitment.

The minister prayed for the eternal peace of the martyrs and early recovery of the injured into the incident.

Liaqat Shahwani, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, confirmed the incident and told Geo News that it was an act of terrorism.

Information minister Shibli Faraz termed the incident “heartbreaking” and “highly reprehensible”. In a tweet, Faraz said the external enemy in its attempt to destabilise Pakistan was constantly orchestrating such subversive activities on its soil.

He also took the opportunity to condemn political opponents, who he said were becoming a “tool of external enemies”. “Unfortunately, the political elements rejected by the people, consciously or unconsciously, are also becoming a tool of external enemies by spreading chaos and anarchy in the country,” he added.

“The enemies, however, would fail in their nefarious designs against Pakistan,” the minister said.

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari too strongly condemned the massacre, terming the incident the “worst form of terrorism”.

He said terrorism should be condemned by every Pakistani and urged the government to take action and provide protection to the workers in the coal fields.

He also urged the government to provide compensation to the families of victims and ensure that such incidents do not occur again.