Armed attackers kill 20 coal miners in southwest Pakistan

At a small private coal mine in southwest Pakistan, armed assailants reportedly killed 20 miners and injured another seven, prompting security concerns just days before a significant international summit is scheduled to take place there.

According to local police official Hamayun Khan Nasir, the attackers entered the miners’ quarters on Thursday night in the restive province of Balochistan province, gathering the workers together and opening fire.

“A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the]Dukki] area in the]early] hours using heavy weapons”, he said, adding the attackers fired rockets and grenades at the mines as well.

Most of the victims were from Pashtun-speaking regions within Balochistan, according to Nasir. Afghan nationals made up the remainder of the deceased and the injured.

No organization has immediately accepted responsibility for the assault.

Balochistan is a hotbed of armed movements, with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) most prominent among them. They accuse Islamabad’s central government of exploiting its vast oil and mineral resources to harm the population in its least-populated and largest province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

An attack targeting Chinese nationals close to Pakistan’s largest airport was blamed on Monday by the BLA, which Pakistan, the UK, and the United States had designated as a terrorist organization.

After their convoy was targeted with an improvised explosive device (IED), according to the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, at least two of its citizens were killed and one of their injuries.

According to local media reports, at least 10 people were seriously hurt in total, with four cars seriously injured in the accident and ten more with the fire that followed.

Thousands of Chinese nationals work in Pakistan, many of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative.

In spite of China’s numerous requests for Pakistani security, there have been more attacks and unrest in connection with significant Belt and Road infrastructure projects.