ISLAMABAD, Jan 4 (NNN-APP) – Militants in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province, killed 11 labourers of an ethnic minority, a spokesperson of the provincial government said, yesterday.
The labourers, working with a private contractor on a project to extract coal from a mine in the district, were attacked in their camp, Liaquat Shahwani, said.
He said, the militants late Saturday, handcuffed and tied feet of the labourers, before shooting them at close range, and slaying others with sharp-edged knives.
“Initial investigation indicated that the labourers may be from other provinces and were killed on the basis of nationalism, but the final probe revealed that the victims were from the ethnic Hazara community. Further investigation is being made to check if there were some sectarian motives behind the target killing.”
The victims’ bodies were shifted to a hospital in Bolan, where they will be moved to Quetta, to be handed over to relatives.
Earlier, Murad Kasi, deputy commissioner of Bolan, told media, the militants shot the labourers, after abducting them from the mine where they worked.
No group or individual has claimed the attack yet.
Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, condemned the attack, calling it “another cowardly inhumane act of terrorism,” adding that, he asked the security forces to apprehend the killers and bring them to justice.
Khan also said that, the government will take care of families of the victims.
Hazara community took to the streets in Quetta, to protest against the killing, and staged a sit-in at one of the main roads of the city.– NNN-APP
