QUETTA: 09, JANUARY, 2021: The funeral prayers of slain coal miners, who were gunned down in Mach area of Kachi district on Sunday will be offered today (Saturday) in Quetta after the Hazara community agreed to call off their sit-in at Quetta's Western Bypass and announced the burial of the martyrs after negotiations on late Friday night with the Government Committee headed by the Chief Minister of Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan. 

The government committee consisting of Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri, Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari.

The Hazara community had staged a sit-in, along with the heirs of the martyrs with dead bodies at Quetta Western Bypass in biting cold for the past six days. They refused to bury them till the Prime Minister personally assured them security and met their demands. 

Let it be known that unidentified armed assailants kill coal miners to nearby mountains in Mach. After news of the brutal incident broke, security agencies arrived at the coal mine, cordoned off the area and collected evidence. Four persons sustained injuries in the shooting incident, were shifted to hospital for medical treatment in critical condition.

The terrorist attack took place early on Sunday near the Mach coalfield, about 48km (30 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta.

Jatoi Moazzam Ali Jatoi, an official with the Levies Force which serves as police and paramilitary in the area said armed men took the coal miners to nearby mountains where they opened fire on them. He said six miners died on the spot and five others were critically wounded and died on the way to hospital. (04)