20 miners were killed and seven wounded after gunmen opened fire near a coal mine in Pakistan’s Duki district on Thursday, reported AP, citing a police official.
The attack comes days ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, slated to be held in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, which External Affairs Minister Jaishankar will attend.
As per the report, police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said the gunmen stormed the accommodations at the coal mine late Thursday night, rounded up men and started shooting. Most attackers belonged to Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan, as per the report.Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan. Nobody has claimed immediate responsibility for the attack yet.The militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had claimed responsibility for the attack. However, this was not the first time that Baloch militants targeted Chinese nationals or China-funded projects in Pakistan.
Anger against China-linked projects is related to greater dissatisfaction with the Pakistani government. The sentiment is that China, along with the Pakistani government, will exploit Balochistan’s natural resources, but none of the gains will come to the locals.