Gunmen Kill 20 Miners In An Attack In Southwest Pakistan Ahead Of An Asian Security Summit

Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded seven others in Pakistan’s southwest, a police official said Friday, drawing condemnation from authorities as a search was launched for the assailants.

The latest attack in restive Balochistan province came days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital.

The gunmen stormed the accommodation at a coal mine in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire, police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said. He said the attackers also fired rockets and lobbed grenades at the mine and damaged the machinery before fleeing.

Most of the casualties were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan. Angered over the violence, local shop owners pulled their shutters down to observe a daylong strike against the killings.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, which targets civilians and security forces.

Read more: AP