At least 11 coal miners were kidnapped and killed in the Machh area of Balochistan on Sunday by unidentified men.

Bolan Deputy Commissioner Murad Kasi said that four people injured in the incident were undergoing treatment.

Initial investigation revealed that the slain labourers belonged to the Shia Hazara community.

According to the police, the attackers abducted the miners and took them to the nearby hills where they were fired at and seriously injured.

The labourers were taken to the Machh hospital, where there were initial reports of 10 coal miners being in a critical condition. However, soon after, the death toll was reported to have reached 11.

Heavy contingents of police, local administration and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel cordoned off the area soon after the incident occurred.

According to reports, ambulances were dispatched from Quetta to retrieve the bodies.

‘No concession for attackers’

Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the killing of 11 coal miners in Machh and termed the incident a “yet another cowardly [and] inhumane act of terrorism”.’

“The families of the victims will not be left abandoned by the [government],” PM Imran stated in a tweet. “Have asked the FC to use all resources to apprehend these killers and bring them to justice.”

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan while condemning the incident sought an inquiry report from the authorities concerned urgently.

Khan called for all means to be exhausted for the arrest of the perpetrators. “Those who targeted these innocent coal miners do not deserve any concessions,” he said.

The chief minister vowed to take elements behind such terrorist attacks to task, adding that their only motive was to disturb Balochistan’s peace.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also condemned the incident and termed the killings of innocent labourers as the worst form of terrorism.

Bilawal expressed his sympathies with the family memebers of the victims and prayed for the departed souls.

“Terrorism should be condemned by every Pakistani and urged the government to take action and provide protection to the workers in the coal-fields,” Bilawal said in a statement.

Bilawal also urged the federal as well as Balochistan government to provide compensation to the families of victims and ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

Provincial Home Minister Mir Zia Langau strongly condemned the attack on workers in the Gushtari area of ​​Mach, Balochistan and sought a report from the authorities concerned.

“No stone should be left unturned in the arrest of the accused,” he said. “An unsuccessful attempt is being made to sabotage the peace of the province,” the home minister added.

Langau stated that state terrorism was unacceptable in every form. The elements involved in the incident do not deserve any concessions, he stressed.

“May Allah Almighty elevate the ranks of the martyrs and heal the wounded soon. Amen,” prayed the home minister.

Infor

Federal Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz also condemned the incident and linked it to Pakistan’s external enemies.

Moreover, the minister stated that the support being lent by the rejected political sections of the country to the enemies’ activities either consciously or unconsciously was also concerning.