QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) – Hundreds of Pakistani minority Shiites blocked a key road on the outskirts of the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Monday for a second day in a row to protest the killing of 11 coal miners Islamic State group.
The miners, members of the Shiite Hazara Shiite minority community, were abducted on Sunday by ISIS militants in southwestern Baluchistan province, taken to a nearby mountain and shot dead. Six died at the scene and five, critically injured, died on the way to hospital.
The police video of the bodies revealed that the miners had their eyes blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs before being shot. The attack took place near the Machh coal field, about 48 kilometers east of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.
In recent years, the Sunni militant group has repeatedly targeted Pakistani minority Shiites. The IS quickly took responsibility after the kidnapping of the miners.
Protesters on Monday carried coffins with the bodies of miners on the Quetta Highway, insisting they would not be buried until authorities arrest the killers. Under Islamic tradition, burials take place as soon as possible after death.
The crowd of about 1,000 people said they would keep attending until their demands were met. Authorities say they are still trying to track down and arrest the assailants and that police raids were being carried out in the area.
Officials held talks with Shiite leaders to convince the Hazares to end the protest, as many in the rally, including women and children, cried for the miners’ coffins.
“Whenever terrorists kill our people, the government sends its representatives saying they will guarantee our protection. We have never had protection in the past. We want the arrest of the murderers of our people,” said Daud Agha, a prominent leader Shiite.
The killing of the miners was largely condemned across the country, with Prime Minister Imran Khan promising that the families of the victims would be cared for and that the perpetrators would face justice.
Pakistan’s Hazaran community has been targeted on numerous occasions in recent years by Sunni militant groups, including the Islamic State group. The IS has also declared war on minority Shiites in neighboring Afghanistan and has claimed several deadly attacks across the region since they erupted in 2014.
A suicide bombing at an outdoor market in Quetta in April 2019 killed 20 people. At the time, ISIS said it had targeted Shiites and elements of the Pakistani army.
Last January, ISIS claimed responsibility for a powerful explosion that ravaged a mosque in Quetta during evening prayers. The blast killed a senior police officer and 13 other people and injured 20 others.
The province of Baluchistan, Pakistan, has in recent decades been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and greater participation in the region’s natural resources such as gas and oil.