Gunmen kill at least 20 in attack on Pakistan coal mine

Gunmen have killed at least 20 people in an attack at the Junaid Coal Company mines in Balochistan province, southwestern Pakistan, according to local police.

The attackers stormed the workers' accommodation at the Junaid Coal Company mines in the province's Duki district in the early hours of Friday morning, rounded the men up and opened fire, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

A hospital in Duki has received 20 bodies and is treating six injured people.

The workers were attacked with heavy weapons, including rockets and grenades, police were quoted as saying.

The attackers also set fire to machinery at the mine.

Police have confirmed that four of the victims were Afghans, while the rest of the men were from Pashto-speaking areas of Balochistan.

Businesses closed on Friday ahead of an expected protest in Duki's main square.

So far no group has claimed immediate responsibility for the killings, but in the past the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has carried out several deadly attacks in the province.

On Monday, a BLA militant killed two Chinese nationals and injured at least 10 people in a suicide attack near Karachi airport.

The group, which pushes for an independent Balochistan, also committed multiple attacks in August that killed more than 50 people. Pakistani authorities responded by killing 21 insurgents in the province.

The latest attack on the miners drew condemnation from Balochistan's chief minister Sarfraz Bugti, who said the attackers had an agenda to destabilise Pakistan.

News.Az