Eleven coal miners have been killed in an attack on a mining camp in the Bolan District of Balochistan Province in Pakistan. The men were part of a group of fifteen miners who were attacked in a residential block at the mine, and had their hands and feet tied before having their throats cut. Four other miners survived the attack and are described as being in a 'critical condition' in a hospital in Macch. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group, and it is believed the attack was sectarian in nature, targeting the miners because they belonged to the Shi’ite Hazara minority rather than because of the mine's activities.
This is the first terrorist attack in Balochistan since April, when a suicide bomber killed 18 people, again in an attack aimed at the Hazara minority. However, such attacks have been a growing problem for the past decade, with Islamic State, the Taliban, and other militant Sunni Groups targeting Shia Muslims in Balochistan. The situation is made more complicated by another insurgency being waged by Balochistan nationalists, who wish to unite Balochistan Province with Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Iran and the Balochistan region of southern Afghanistan into a new, independent, state, and who sometimes carry out attacks on projects such as mines, which they see as exploiting the region's wealth for the benefit of outside interests.
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