Gunmen kill 20 coal miners in Pakistan amid surging violence

German Press Agency

ISLAMABAD – Gunmen stormed a coal mine in the volatile south-western Pakistani province of Balochistan with rocket launchers and hand grenades, killing at least 20 laborers and wounding several others, police said on Friday.

The latest incident occurred in the district of Loralai near the provincial capital of Quetta overnight, local police officer Murad Khan told German Press Agency.

The victims, which included Afghan nationals alongside people from different parts of the province, were killed in their sleep and some of the bodies were charred beyond recognition, the officer said.

No group has claimed the responsibility for the latest attack but subnationalist militants in Balochistan often target security forces and civilians.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a militant group of ethnic Baloch guerillas that is fighting for independence from Pakistan, was a prime suspect, another police officer said. Much of the violence is seen against the Chinese projects in Pakistan to connect China’s Xinjiang region with the Arabian Sea to reach markets in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and beyond.

Baloch militant and political groups accused China of stealing their land and resources including several hundred kilometres of shoreline.