Islamabad, Feb. 14 (EFE).- At least 10 coal miners were killed and six others were injured when a bomb planted on a road exploded near the van carrying them in southwest Pakistan’s troubled Balochistan province on Friday, police said.
The incident happened when a pickup van taking miners to work was targeted in the Shahrag coal mines area of Harnai district in the morning.
“Ten coal miners were killed and six others were injured when a pickup van carrying them to work was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device planted on the road,” Abdul Haq, an official from the Levies force which acts as police in the area, told EFE.
The official added that the injured have been shifted to the Rural Health Center in Shahrag for further treatment.
He said that the area was cordoned off by the security forces after the blast.
Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rand said in a statement that “an investigation into the incident has been ordered.”
He said that evidence was being collected and the initial investigation indicated that the explosives were planted on the roadside.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the blast, saying that “the beasts who target innocent people do not deserve any concession.”
“(We) are standing with the bereaved families in their hour of sorrow,” the minister added in a statement.
The area where the explosion took place is located in the north-east of the provincial capital of Quetta.
“According to preliminary information, the deceased belong to Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,” the Levies official said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited the province earlier in the month to oversee the security situation following attacks on security forces and civilians by militants in the region in recent weeks.
At the end of January, 18 soldiers and 12 militants were killed in a clash in Mangocher area of Kalat district of Balochistan.
It was the deadliest attack on security forces personnel in a single day in 2025.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by area, has seen an increase in militant activity in recent months.
Apart from fencing the border with neighboring Afghanistan, security forces have been regularly conducting operations against militants based on intelligence information. EFE
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