Armed attackers kill 20 coal miners in southwest Pakistan

Attackers kill 20 coal miners: The most recent attack in the province of Balochistan has raised security fears ahead of an important international gathering in Islamabad.

Attackers kill 20 coal miners
A paramilitary soldier stops and checks passenger vehicles at a security check post, a day after attackers conducted a deadly hit on the outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan, in August 2024 [File: Naseer Ahmed/Reuters]

Days before a significant international summit is scheduled to take place in Pakistan, police reported that armed attackers had killed twenty miners and injured seven more at a tiny private coal mine in the southwest of the country. This raised concerns about security.

According to local police officer Hamayun Khan Nasir, on Friday, the assailants broke into the miners’ quarters in Dukki district in Pakistan’s unrest-plagued Balochistan province on Thursday night, gathered the laborers together, and then started fire.

“In the early hours of the morning, a group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the [Dukki] area using heavy weapons,” he added, adding that the assailants also threw grenades and rockets at the mines.

According to Nasir, the majority of the victims were from Balochistani areas where Pashtun is spoken. Afghan nationals made up four injured people and three of the dead.

As of right now, no organization has claimed accountability for the attack.

There are many military movements in Balochistan, the most well-known of which is the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Attackers kill 20 coal miners They charge that the nation’s largest and least populated province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is being exploited by the Islamabad-based central government for the benefit of the local populace, despite the region’s abundant oil and mineral riches.

The BLA, which the United States, the United Kingdom, and Pakistan have all listed as terrorist organizations, claimed responsibility for an attack on Chinese nationals on Monday close to Pakistan’s main airport.

Attackers kill 20 coal miners
Attackers kill 20 coal miners

At least two Chinese nationals were slain and a third injured, according to the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, after an improvised explosive device, thought to have been set off by a suicide bomber, targeted their convoy.

According to local media reports, four cars were destroyed in the explosion, and ten additional cars were damaged in the ensuing fire, resulting in at least ten injuries overall.

Many of the thousands of Chinese nationals employed in Pakistan are part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative development project.

China has repeatedly asked Pakistan to increase security, but in the wake of important infrastructure projects for the Belt and Road, there has been an upsurge in attacks and discontent.

Attackers kill 20 coal miners: The attack has sparked questions about Pakistan’s security services’ capacity to protect prominent gatherings and foreign nationals ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of Government conference, which is scheduled to take place in Islamabad on October 15 and 16 of next week.

Attackers kill 20 coal miners
Attackers kill 20 coal miners

China has repeatedly asked Pakistan to increase security, but in the wake of important infrastructure projects for the Belt and Road, there has been an upsurge in attacks and discontent.

The attack has sparked questions about Pakistan’s security services’ capacity to protect prominent gatherings and foreign nationals ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of Government conference, which is scheduled to take place in Islamabad on October 15 and 16 of next week.

Source: Aljazeera

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