At least 20 laborers were killed and seven others injured after a group of armed men attacked coal mines in the Dukki area of Balochistan in the wee hours of Friday.
District Chairman Dukki Haji Khairullah Nasir told the media that the assailants attacked the miners with guns, hand grenades and rocket launchers.
He said the unknown attackers also set ablaze 10 engines and other mining machinery before escaping the scene.
Police, FC, and rescue teams reached the pot after the attack. Police said the death toll may climb as several injured persons are in critical condition. Rescue officials have shifted the injured laborers to a hospital for treatment.
SHO Dukki Hamanyan Khan said the armed men first gathered the miners at one place before gunning them down. Heavy contingents of police and FC have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the attackers.
“We have received 20 bodies and six injured so far at the district hospital,” said Johar Khan Shadizai, a doctor in Duki. As per officials, most of the victims were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan.
