On 3 January 2021, a group of

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

(IS) militants killed 11 Hazara

coal miner Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

s after being

kidnap In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

ped in Machh,

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

The attack

The miners were on their way to work when the gunmen ambushed and dragged them into the nearby mountains. All 11

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

were blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs before having their throats slit. Video of the miners' murders shows the dead men strewn out on the floor of a village hut. The victims were members of the minority

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

community.

Protests

Not long after the attack, Hazaras blocked roads and burned tires in

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

, the capital of Balochistan province. They gathered to protest the terror attacks on them and to demonstrate their minority rights. They demanded that the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

visit them and personally assure them that justice would be served in the case of the lynched miners. A demonstration organized by the

Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM) ( ur, مجلس وحدتِ مسلمین) is a Pakistani Shi'a political organization. Its headquarters are in Islamabad. MWM Pakistan works to establish an Islamic democratic welfare state, particularly emp ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

continued for three days at over twenty locations in the city. Balochistan's Shia Hazara community continued a

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

protest with the dead bodies for six straight days on Quetta’s Western Bypass, refusing to bury the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

ed miners.

Government action and burial

The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

ordered the law enforcement agency to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice, with

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

denouncing the murders as "an inhumane act of terrorism". The

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad ( ur, ; born 6 November 1950) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 38th Interior Minister of Pakistan from 2020 to 2022. He is famous because of his smoking cigars and Laal Haveli. He is the founder and leader of A ...

also visited the families of the victims and assured them that the culprits involved in the attack will be brought to justice at all costs. He expressed condolences to the families of victims and announced compensation for them. The attack was also condemned by

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan ps, د افغانستان د بهرنیو چارو وزارت , logo = MOFA IEA logo.png , logo_width = 250px , logo_caption = Logo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , seal ...

stated that seven Afghan Hazaras were among the 11 miners who were killed. On January 9, 2021, the miners were buried at

Hazara Town Hazara Town (Urdu: , Hazaragi: , Dari: ) is a lower- to middle-income area on the western outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan with a population of up to 2,500,000, of which an estimated two-thirds are ethnic Hazaras and the remaining portion are Pas ...

cemetery in Quetta. The same day, Imran Khan reached Quetta where he met the families of the murdered miners.

Claim of responsibility

In due course, the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack through the Telegram communication channel of the

Amaq news agency Amaq News Agency ( ar, وكالة أعماق الإخبارية) is a news outlet linked to the Islamic State (IS). Amaq publishes news reports about claims of responsibility for terrorist attacks in Western countries. It is often the "first poi ...

References

{{Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant 2021 in Balochistan, Pakistan 2021 murders in Pakistan 2020s crimes in Balochistan, Pakistan 21st-century mass murder in Pakistan Afghanistan–Pakistan relations Islamic terrorist incidents in 2021 Insurgency in Balochistan ISIL terrorist incidents in Pakistan January 2021 crimes in Asia Kachhi District Kidnappings in Pakistan Mass kidnappings of the 2020s Mass murder in Balochistan, Pakistan Massacres in 2021 Massacres of Hazara people Terrorist incidents in Balochistan, Pakistan Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2021 January 2021 events in Pakistan

The attack

Protests

Government action and burial

Claim of responsibility

See also

References