Roadside Bomb Strikes Vehicle Carrying Miners in Pakistan, 9 Dead

Pakistani paramilitary soldiers stand guard as a passenger train arrives at Mach station in restive Balochistan province, Pakistan, 04 February 2024. EPA/FAYYAZ AHMED

A roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying coal miners in restive southwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least nine people and wounding others, officials said.
The attack happened in Harnai, a district in Balochistan province, according to a government administrator Wali Kakar. He said police had transported the dead and wounded to a hospital and officers are still investigating, The Associated Press reported.
Most of the victims were from the country's northwestern Swat Valley and other areas, authorities said.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and provincial authorities in separate statements condemned the attack and ordered local authorities and police to trace and arrest those who orchestrated the attack and killed innocent laborers.
Though no one claimed responsibility, the suspicion is likely to fall on the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army separatist group which has been blamed by the government for such previous attacks on laborers from other parts of the country.
Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan has a long-running insurgency, with several separatist groups staging attacks, targeting security forces and civilians in their quest for independence. Several militant groups also are active in the province.