PAKISTAN, OCT 11 – A total of 20 coal miners were shot dead in an overnight attack by a group of heavily armed men who surrounded their accommodation in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, police said today.
“About 40 attackers opened fire on the miners for half an hour starting around 12:30 pm before fleeing,” said the police chief in Duki district, Asim Shafi, where the attack took place.
“They have rocket launchers and grenades,” he added.
Senior government official in the district, Kaleemullah Kakar, also confirmed the death toll.
Separatist groups in Balochistan regularly target natural resource extraction projects across the mineral-rich region.
Most of the projects are financed and operated by foreign countries, especially neighboring China, which the armed factions accuse of hoarding wealth. – AFP
