20 laborers killed in attacks on coal mines in SW Pakistan

 

Twenty laborers were killed and six others injured in attacks on multiple coal mines in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province in the wee hours of Friday morning, officials said.

The incidents happened in Duki district of the province, where unidentified attackers targeted at least 10 coal mines with hand grenades, killing and injuring the laborers working inside, the district's political head Haji Khairullah Nasir told media.

He said the attackers set the mines and extraction machinery on fire before fleeing the scene. The district's police told media that some of the miners were grouped together and shot dead by the attackers.

The bodies and injured laborers were shifted to a nearby hospital, where several of the injured were in critical condition, police said.

Most of the victims were residents of different districts of Balochistan, police said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

xinhua