In a predawn assault on a coal mine in Balochistan’s Duki district, insurgents killed at least 20 workers and left several others injured, Pakistani police confirmed on Friday. Armed with heavy weaponry such as rockets and grenades, the attackers targeted the miners’ housing. After the assault, they also set fire to mining machinery before escaping the scene.
Medical officials at the district hospital reported that seven survivors were undergoing treatment for injuries. The victims and survivors were largely from Balochistan districts with a significant ethnic Pashtun population. Among the casualties were at least three Afghan refugees working at the mine.
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While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion quickly fell on the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group that has ramped up violence in Balochistan in recent weeks. The BLA has been linked to a series of deadly attacks, including guerrilla-style raids on security installations and civilian targets, which resulted in the deaths of over 50 people in August.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Balochistan’s Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack, labeling it as an act of terrorism aimed at destabilizing the country. Bugti vowed that the perpetrators would be brought to justice, stating, “The terrorists have once again targeted poor laborers… the killing of these innocent laborers will be avenged.”
The attack in Balochistan came on the heels of a deadly bombing in Karachi earlier in the week. The BLA claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing near the Karachi airport that killed two Chinese engineers and injured at least 10 others, including a Chinese national and local security personnel. The Chinese engineers were working at a coal-fired power plant, part of the extensive China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
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The Karachi bombing has exacerbated tensions between Pakistan and China, as Chinese nationals have become frequent targets of insurgent violence. Since 2017, at least 21 Chinese citizens have been killed in Pakistan. In response to the latest attack, China sent an inter-agency working group to Islamabad to press Pakistan to ensure the safety of its nationals working on various projects in the country.
The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a statement on its website, calling on Pakistan to conduct a thorough investigation into the bombing, apprehend those responsible, and implement enhanced security measures to safeguard Chinese personnel, institutions, and projects in Pakistan.
Thousands of Chinese engineers and workers are stationed in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, where they are involved in various development projects under CPEC. However, militant groups like the BLA accuse Islamabad and Beijing of exploiting the region’s natural resources without benefiting the local population. Both Pakistan and China reject these accusations, dismissing them as attempts to derail economic progress in the impoverished province.
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Rising Violence in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The BLA and other separatist factions active in Balochistan are part of a growing insurgency that has led to escalating violence in the region, as well as in the neighboring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Reports suggest that more than 1,000 people, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in insurgent attacks across these two provinces since the beginning of 2024. Many of these attacks have been attributed to the BLA and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an anti-state militant group.
The Pakistani government has accused these groups of operating from safe havens inside Afghanistan, using the country as a base to launch cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban government to take action against these militant sanctuaries, but Kabul has denied the allegations, claiming that it is not harboring insurgents.
SCO Summit and Heightened Security Measures
The surge in violence comes just days ahead of a major international event: the Islamabad-hosted summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), scheduled for October 15-16. The SCO, originally established in 2001 by China, Russia, and several Central Asian nations, is a regional security and economic alliance aimed at countering Western influence. Pakistan and India joined the SCO in 2017, and Iran became a member in 2023.
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The Pakistani government has implemented extensive security measures in preparation for the summit. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to visit Islamabad for bilateral talks ahead of the official meeting. Pakistani authorities have deployed additional troops and declared a three-day public holiday in the capital and the adjacent garrison city of Rawalpindi to ensure the safety of the high-profile conference.
The government’s concern over security is further heightened by the recent attacks, which have underscored the persistent threat posed by insurgent groups like the BLA. The international community will be watching closely to see how Pakistan manages the delicate balance between maintaining internal stability and securing its important foreign relations, particularly with China, which has invested billions of dollars in the country through projects like CPEC.
The recent attacks in Balochistan and Karachi have drawn attention to the broader challenges facing Pakistan as it grapples with insurgent violence and its impact on regional stability. The deaths of 20 coal miners in Duki and the killing of Chinese engineers in Karachi underscore the volatile security situation in the country’s restive regions.
As Pakistan prepares to host the SCO summit, the government will need to address the growing insurgency and its implications for both domestic security and international relations. With Chinese nationals increasingly becoming targets of militant violence, Pakistan’s leadership faces mounting pressure to ensure the safety of foreign workers and to uphold its commitments under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The success of these efforts will be crucial not only for the country’s economic future but also for its standing in the international community.
