Quetta, Baluchistan: Dozens of heavily armed attackers, equipped with guns, rockets, and hand grenades, launched a ruthless assault on a cluster of small private coal mines in southwestern Pakistan on Friday. In this violent raid, at least 21 miners were killed, with some victims shot while they slept and others executed in cold blood after being lined up. This horrific attack unfolded just days before Pakistan is scheduled to host a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, making it the deadliest incident in weeks within the mineral-rich province of Balochistan, which shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
“The armed terrorists remained for around 1-1/2 hours in the mining area,” regional police official Asif Shafi told Reuters. “They fired rockets and hurled grenades at the mines and miners’ quarters.” The attack targeted the Junaid Coal Company’s mines in the Duki area, leaving six others injured. Among the deceased were four Afghan nationals.
In a strong condemnation of the violence, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement and tasked its consulate in Quetta with facilitating the transfer of the bodies. In response to the tragedy, businesses and shops were closed in Duki as hundreds of residents gathered for a protest demanding the arrest of the attackers.
“We were receiving threats from the militants for some time but there was no information about the attack,” said mine owner Khairullah Nasar, who is also the chairman of the district council. He added that the attackers set fire to all ten mines, destroying the equipment and machinery within.
Balochistan has been marred by a decades-long insurgency led by separatist militant groups that have frequently targeted government officials, military personnel, and Chinese interests in the area, pressing for a greater share of the region’s mineral wealth. The number of attacks against migrant workers, including many from Afghanistan, employed in smaller, privately operated mines has increased in recent months.
Also Read | Iran Faces New US Sanctions Over October 1 Attack on Israel
Provincial Governor Jafar Khan Mandokhel condemned the miners’ killings as an inhuman act. “On one side, you talk about your independence and your rights, and on the other hand, you are killing innocent laborers,” he said during a news conference, referring to the separatist militant groups. He added, “We condemn it strongly, and we will take all-out action against it.”
In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asserted the government’s determination to eliminate all forms of terrorism. “The provincial government has ordered an investigation, and a case has been registered against unknown assailants under the terrorism law,” a government official disclosed, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In addition to the separatists, Balochistan is also home to Islamist militants, who have re-emerged since 2022 after ending a ceasefire with the government. Recently, two Chinese nationals working for a power plant were killed in a blast in the southern city of Karachi, an attack claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of several insurgent groups fighting the government. The BLA has also been linked to the region’s most extensive violence in years, which occurred in August and resulted in over 70 deaths from attacks on police stations, railway lines, and highways.
Last month, armed men stormed the residence of laborers from the eastern province of Punjab, killing seven. Additionally, on Friday, crossfire between police and attackers resulted in the deaths of two suspected militants involved in a 2021 attack on dam project workers that claimed the lives of 13 individuals, including nine Chinese nationals.
