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Pakistan: 20 dead as armed men storm private coal mine in Balochistan
At least 20 miners were killed and at least seven injured after armed men stormed a small private coal mine in southwest Pakistan Friday morning (Oct 11). The attack in Balochistan province mainly targeted people from Pashtun-speaking areas of the province.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but media sources said the blame was likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.
The attackers allegedly fired rockets and threw grenades at the mine as well.
Humayun Khan, the police station house officer for the town, located east of the city of Quetta, said in a statement, “A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the Duki area in the wee hours using heavy weapons.”
“We have received 20 bodies and six injured so far at the district hospital,” said Johar Khan Shadizai, a doctor in Duki.
Earlier on Monday (Oct 7), militant group Baloch Liberation Army said it had carried out an attack on Chinese nationals.
Pakistan hosts thousands of Chinese nationals who are employed in various projects being built under Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.
On Wednesday (Oct 9), gunmen in the area opened fire on a vehicle carrying police officers, killing at least two officers and injuring two others.
The Friday attack came days ahead of a key Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit being held in capital Islamabad next week. Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is also due to visit the country to hold multilateral summits.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, closely linked to Afghanistan’s Taliban, has been outlawed in Pakistan and is believed to be behind a series of deadly attacks across the South Asian country in recent months.
WION NEWS