Gunmen have killed at least 20 people at a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, according to local police.
It was reported that the victims were working at the Junaid Coal Company mines in Balochistan province when they were attacked in the early hours of Friday morning.
A hospital in the town of Duki has received 20 bodies and is treating six injured people, reported Reuters.
Police were quoted as saying the workers were attacked with heavy weapons, including rockets and grenades.
The attack occurred east of Quetta, the capital of the restive Balochistan province.
Most of the victims hailed from Balochistan’s Pashtun-speaking areas. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Recall that rebel groups have waged a separatist insurgency in Southwestern Pakistan for decades, complaining that Islamabad and the more affluent Punjab province unfairly exploit their resources.
The Pakistani government has tried to use military force in an effort to put an end to the insurgency.
On Monday, two Chinese nationals were killed and several others injured in a massive blast near the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, in an attack claimed by a group called the Baloch Liberation Army.
This week, the Interior Ministry alerted the country’s four provinces to increase security measures, warning that separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban might be planning attacks.
The warning comes as Pakistan hosts the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the capital, Islamabad, next week. High-level Chinese representation is expected.
