At least eleven coal miners lost their lives, and five others sustained injuries in a deadly roadside explosion in Balochistan’s Harnai district on Friday.
According to officials, at least 11 people were killed and five others were injured when an explosion hit a pickup truck carrying coal mine workers in the Shahrag area of Harnai. Most of the victims were from the Swat and Shangla districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Harnai Deputy Commissioner Hazrat Wali Kakar stated that the blast occurred when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in the PMDC 94 Coal Mines Area in Harnai’s Shahrag district. “The bodies of the deceased and the injured have been shifted to the Shahrag Basic Health Unit,” Kakar said.
Following the incident, a large number of Pakistani military forces reached the site and cordoned off the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of filing this report.
Attacks on coal mine workers or companies in Balochistan are not new. Last year, on October 20, 20 coal miners lost their lives in an attack by unknown assailants at the Junaid Coal Company area, about 8 to 10 kilometers from Dukki town. The attack sparked outrage, with many in the local community condemning security forces for their failure to prevent such incidents despite being stationed only a kilometer away.