Three Killed In Attack On Coal Miners In Pakistan's Troubled Balochistan

Balochistan has been the scene of frequent militant attacks and a long-running insurgency by groups seeking independence.

Pakistani officials say unidentified attackers have killed three coal miners in the troubled southeastern province of Balochistan.

A statement from district officials in Marwar, about 60 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Quetta, said those killed in the August 24 attack were civilians who were working in the coal mines in that area.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Balochistan has been the scene of frequent militant attacks and a long-running insurgency by groups seeking independence for the mineral- and gas-rich province bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban also has a presence there.

On August 22, a Pakistani Army officer was killed and two other soldiers injured in a land-mine blast in another part of Balochistan.

Earlier this week, two children were killed and four injured in a suicide attack on a convoy carrying Chinese engineers in the same province. Pakistani officials said one Chinese engineer was also injured.

Those attacks were claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army.

China is developing the seaport of Gawadar, an effort that is part of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Gawadar is a key component of the Belt and Road Initiative, a multinational infrastructure and development plan pushed by Beijing throughout much of Central and South Asia.