Quetta: Unknown armed men gunned down four coal miners and injured three others in Harnai district on Monday.

Officials said armed men targeted the workers with automatic weapons near a mine in Khost early in the morning.

The assailants set 11 coal mines on fire before fleeing the scene, according to Assistant Commissioner Majeed Jogezai.

Law enforcement agencies rushed to Khost and shifted the bodies and the injured to the district hospital.

Harnai district has seen several such incidents. Attacks on miners, security forces and even trucks carrying coal to Punjab are frequent in the region.

The miners killed in the attack were identified as Noor Mohammad, Abdul Hanan, Abdul Rehman and Syed Hanan. The three injured were Sher Zaman, Syed Ikram, and Baz Muhammad.

Two of the dead miners hailed from Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Balochistan’s Muslim Bagh and Qila Saifullah.

The bodies were dispatched to the workers’ native villages while the injured were shifted to Quetta.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has ordered an inquiry into the tragedy, terming it a terrorist attack.

He directed the authorities to beef up security in Harnai, especially around mines and other workplaces.

The chief minister asked the authorities to ensure the best medical treatment of the injured workers.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023