Thousands of mourners gathered in Pakistan Saturday for the burial of 10 miners who were killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
Pakistani officials have notably long denied the presence of Islamic State in the country, but the group has claimed a number of attacks including a bombing at a market in 2019.
These deaths had then sparked an outcry over the lack of protection for workers, leading to countrywide blockade.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday met families of the slain Hazara miners in Quetta. The family members and mourners had sat on six-day anti-government protest after gunmen killed the miners on January 3. The horrific incident had elements of sectarian violence as the slain miners had been from Hazara community that has often been targetted.
The families had refused to bury the bodies of the miners until PM Imran Khan met them.
The miners from the Shia Hazara community were shot dead after being abducted by the Islamic State terrorists on Sunday last in Mach area of the restive province.
Imran Khan reaches Quetta after burial of 11 slain Hazara coal miners ANI | Updated: Jan 09, 2021 18:06 IST
Quetta (Balochistan) [Pakistan], January 9 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan reached Quetta on Saturday, hours after 11 coal miners from Hazara community, who were brutally killed in the attack on January 3 were buried at the city s Hazara Town cemetery.
He is expected to meet the family of miners later today, Dawn reported. His visit comes a day after he accused grieving families of slain miners of blackmailing him after they refused to bury the remains of the miners until Prime Minister Khan visits them.
Since the attack, the relatives of those killed had placed their coffins on a highway in Quetta and refused to bury the dead until the killers were apprehended and Khan came to meet them.