QUETTA, Pakistan (AhlulBayt News Agency) - Two coal miners belonging to the Shia community were martyred and another two injured when the van they were travelling in came under fire in the western bypass area on Friday.
Police said a group of Hazaras was on its way to the Mach coal mine in Bolan district when the assailants on a motorbike opened fire on their vehicle near the main western bypass. As a result, four of them were injured.
“The coal miners were returning to the Mach coal field after a holiday,” said Deputy Inspector General Police Abdul Razzak Cheema.
Balochistan has been experiencing incidents of violence and targeted killings for more than a decade. Over 1,400 incidents targeting the Shia Muslim community have taken place in the province during the past 15 years.
Police and Frontier Corps personnel rushed to the site soon after the incident. The injured were first taken to Bolan Medical College Hospital and then shifted to Combined Military Hospital.
Two of the injured — Habibullah and Abdul Hussain — died during treatment.
The bodies were hand over to the heirs.
The injured were identified as Syed Mubarak and Muhammad Younus.
Security forces launched a search operation to trace the attackers but no arrest was reported in this regard like before.
Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri expressed deep grief over the incident and ordered the authorities concerned to submit their report on it. Separately, Hazara Democratic Party strongly denounced the firing incident on the vehicle of the coal miners. In a statement, Hazara Democratic Party also lashed out at the government’s security claims.
