Armed assailants have killed 20 miners and injured another seven at a private coal mine in southwest Pakistan, police said, raising security concerns just days before a SCO summit to be held in the country. The attackers broke into the miners’ quarters in Dukki district in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Thursday night. According to local police on Friday, the gunmen gathered the workers and then opened fire.
“A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the (Dukki) area in the early hours using heavy weapons,” police officer said, adding the attackers fired rockets and grenades at the mines as well.
Most of the victims were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Among the deceased were three Afghans, and four others from Afghanistan were injured. No group has immediately taken responsibility for the assault.
The attack occurred just days before the high-profile Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, chaired by Pakistan, scheduled to take place in Islamabad on October 16 and 17. Various heads of state, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang are expected to attend.
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Pakistan for the SCO summit on October 15, marking his first trip to the country. It will also be the first visit by an Indian Foreign Minister to Pakistan in nearly nine years, with Sushma Swaraj being the last to visit in December 2015.
Restaurants, wedding halls, cafes, and snooker clubs in Islamabad and Rawalpindi will be closed from October 12 to 16 due to heightened security measures, as reported by local Pakistani media.
Balochistan, country’s largest and least-populated province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is home to separatist groups seeking independence. These groups, with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) most prominent among them, accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s oil and mineral wealth at the expense of the local people. On Monday, the BLA claimed responsibility for an attack on Chinese nationals outside Pakistan’s largest airport, Karachi in which two Chinese nationals killed. Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, mainly involved in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Team BharatShakti (with inputs from Reuters)
