Gunmen kill 4 miners in southwest Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Gunmen killed at least four miners and injured three others in southwest Pakistan on Monday, officials and local media reported.

The attack, the latest in a series of similar ambushes, occurred in the remote Harnai district of southwestern Balochistan province, a hub of coalmines located some 169 kilometers (105 miles) from the provincial capital Quetta.

Local broadcaster Dunya News, citing security officials, reported that four miners were killed and another three injured when a group of gunmen attacked the coalfield where they were working.

The attackers, the channel reported, also set at least 11 coalmines on fire.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack till this report was published, nonetheless, the ethnic Baloch separatists have long been involved in targeting coalminers across the mineral-rich province.

Eleven coalminers were kidnapped and later killed in Balochistan's Mach district in January 2021.