At least 20 miners were killed and eight others were injured on Friday when armed men targeted coal mines in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province. According to Dunya News, the incident took place in the province's Dukki region. This attack is the most recent in a wave of violence in Pakistan. It occurs less than a week before the national capital will host the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

District Chairman Dukki Haji Khair Ullah Nasir reported that hand grenades and rocket launchers were used by the attackers during the assault. According to him, the area is home to ten coal mines. Before leaving the area, the attackers, according to Nasir, also set fire to mining equipment. Eight more miners were injured, and at least 20 miners perished. Following the attack, police, rescue teams, and the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) hurried to the scene.

According to police sources, the number of deaths is likely to surge as some of the minors' injuries are life-threatening. After gathering the miners into various groups, the armed men sprayed bullets on them, according to SHO Dukki Hamanyan Khan. To apprehend the offenders, large police and FC contingents have cordoned off the area and begun a search and arrest operation.

The number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan during the first three quarters of this year has surpassed the total number of deaths in all of 2023, raising concerns. In the first three quarters of 2024, there were at least 1,534 deaths, rising from 1,523 in 2023, according to the third Quarterly Report (Q3) published by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).

An ongoing violent insurgency is located in Balochistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan. Previous attacks against CPEC projects have been carried out by Baloch insurgent groups on multiple occasions. The authorities deny the accusations made by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) against China and Islamabad for allegedly abusing the province's abundant natural resources. It has waged a protracted insurgency to claim a separate homeland.

This week, a Baloch insurgent group carried out a suicide attack near Pakistan's busiest airport in Karachi, targeting a convoy of Chinese workers, resulting in the deaths of two Chinese nationals and the injuries of seventeen others.