3 coal miners gunned down in Pak's Balochistan

Unknown armed gunmen killed three coal miners working in the coalfield area of the capital city of Balochistan, local media reported.

A Dawn newspaper report on Tuesday stated that the victims were working for two private coal companies in Quetta.

The report said that gunmen opened indiscriminate fire Monday night, killing the three coal miners. "Three young coal miners were killed on the spot as they suffered multiple bullet injuries," Gul Muhammad, a senior police officer of Hanna police station.

According to the Pakistani daily, the attackers escaped after killing the miners. The members of the security forces deployed at the nearby check-post could not act promptly due to poor mobile phone service in the hilly area.

A local police officer requesting anonymity said this incident seems to be an incident of a targeted killing.

This comes as fighting between the Pakistan security forces and Baloch insurgents has intensified in the region. Balochistan is a resource-rich but least developed province of Pakistan where a movement for freedom has been ongoing for the past several decades.

The majority of Balochs believe that the region was independent before 1947 and was forcibly occupied by Pakistan.

( With inputs from ANI )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor