Staff Reporter
Quetta
The Islamic State, (IS) also known as Da’ish, has claimed the responsibility for the Sunday’s Machh attack, through its Amaq news agency.
Eleven coal miners were killed after unidentified men kidnapped and later slaughtered them at the Mach coalfield of Bolan district, around 80km away from Quetta in Balochistan on Sunday. Four other miners were seriously injured. According to officials, the miners shared a residential room near the coal mine where they worked. The assailants fled after the attack.
Thousands of mourners from the Shia Hazara community on Monday protested alongside the bodies of miners killed in an attack in Balochistan’s Machh coal field area.
The 11 miners were kidnapped before dawn on Sunday as they slept near the remote coal mine in the mountainous area — 60 kilometres southeast of Quetta. The attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.
Up to 2,500 protesters gathered with eight of the bodies in coffins and blocked a bypass on the outskirts of Quetta, demanding justice. “We will not end our protest until the arrest of all the assassins,” chief of Balochistan Shia Conference, Agha Daud, said.
