January 17, 2021
The miners were held at gunpoint, blind-folded, with their hands tied behind their back. They were slaughtered one by one
The first week of 2021 witnessed a gruesome incident involving the slaughtering of 10 innocent coalminers belonging to the Hazara-Shia community. The incident was followed by a dharna (sit-in) spanning over six days in the freezing winter of Balochistan.
On the third day of January, over a dozen armed men entered a compound of coal miners in the early hours of the day. This compound was in Mach town, 70 kilometres south-east of Quetta. The miners were held at gunpoint, blind-folded, with their hands tied behind their back. They were slaughtered one by one. Without the slightest fear of repercussions, the perpetrators captured their barbarous acts on video and still pictures, which were later released on social media. The killers then left the crime scene with apparently assured impunity.
Balochistan CM visits protesting Hazaras, requests them to bury slain coal miners
By
Wednesday Jan 06, 2021
People mourn their relatives, who were coal miners from Hazara community killed in an attack in Mach area of Bolan district, as they protest demanding justice, in Quetta, Pakistan January 4, 2021. Photo: Reuters
Ali Zaidi urges protestors to bury the dead, assures them PM Imran Khan will arrive and meet them in Quetta
Protestors refuse to end the sit-in, however; local leader says they want prime minister there as we are calling him here as our leader
Protests spread to other parts of the country as anger over brazen killing of miners grows
Tragedy inflicted by few evil men on Hazara community is heartbreaking: Hamza Ali Abbasi
Actor mourns slain coal miners who were attacked, murdered and filmed by militants
Thousands of mourners from the Shia Hazara community on Monday protested alongside the bodies of miners killed in an attack in Balochistan s Mach 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, told