Attackers stormed a coal mine in Balochistan province and surrounded the workers before opening fire, according to Pakistani police.
Militants killed 20 miners and wounded seven others in an attack on a small private coal mine in southwestern Pakistan late Thursday night, police official Humayun Khan Nasir reported.
A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the Duki area in the wee hours using heavy weapons.
The attack took place east of the city of Quetta, the capital of the troubled Balochistan province. The perpetrators also fired rockets and grenades at the mines.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is the country’s poorest and least populated province. Rebel groups waged a separatist insurgency there for decades, complaining that Islamabad and the richer Punjab province were unfairly exploiting their resources.
The Pakistani government also tried to use military force to end the insurgency.
The Interior Ministry this week warned the country’s four provinces to step up security measures. Separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban could be planning attacks in the region, according to the report.
The warning came as Pakistan is set to host the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit in the capital Islamabad next week. Senior Chinese representatives will also attend.
