Militants attack again, killing 20 miners in Pakistan

According to police, attackers stormed the workers' residence at the Junaid Coal Company mines in Duki district of Balochistan province early Friday morning (October 10), took the workers there and opened fire, killing several people.

One of the workers injured in the attack in Balochistan province (Pakistan) is treated by a doctor. Photo: AP

A hospital in Duki has received 20 bodies and is treating seven injured, the AP news agency reported. One of the critically injured miners later died at the hospital, bringing the death toll to 21.

“When the attackers came near us, they shouted ‘we told you to stop working here, why didn’t you do it?’” said a contractor named Hafeezullah who survived. “Then they opened fire.”

Hafeezullah estimated that the attack, which he said began just after midnight, lasted about an hour and a half. During that time, several machines were set on fire. He also heard loud explosions, which he thought were grenades going off.

Asim Shafi, Duki district police chief, confirmed to the press that both grenades and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the attack, which was allegedly carried out by about 40 people and then disappeared "into the night".

So far, no group has claimed responsibility, but Pakistani public opinion believes that this is most likely the "product" of a separatist rebel group called the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

The group has carried out several deadly attacks in the past in Balochistan province. Balochistan, Pakistan's southwestern province that borders Afghanistan and Iran, is the country's poorest and least populous.

Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Balochistan for decades, saying the central government and the richer neighboring province of Punjab have unfairly exploited their resources.

On Monday (October 7), a BLA militant killed two Chinese nationals and injured at least 10 others in a suicide bombing near Karachi airport.

The group, which is pushing for an independent Balochistan, also carried out a series of attacks in August that killed more than 50 people. Pakistani authorities responded by killing 21 BLA militants in Balochistan province.

Quang Anh (according to DW, AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/phien-quan-lai-tan-cong-sat-hai-20-tho-mo-o-pakistan-post316449.html