QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) – Hundreds of Pakistani minority Shiites blocked a major highway in the suburbs of the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta for the second day in a row on Monday to protest the killing of 11 miners by the Islamic State group.
The miners, members of the country’s Shia Hazara minority community, were kidnapped by IS militants in southwestern Baluchistan province on Sunday, taken to a nearby mountain and shot. Six died on the spot and five, seriously injured, died on the way to hospital.
Police video of the bodies revealed that the miners were blindfolded and their hands tied behind their backs before they were shot. The attack took place near the Machh coal field, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.
The Sunni militant group has repeatedly attacked the Pakistani Shia minority in recent years. ISIS quickly claimed responsibility after the miners’ kidnapping.
On Monday, protesters brought the coffins containing the miners’ bodies to the Quetta highway and insisted that they not be buried until authorities arrested the killers. According to Islamic tradition, funerals take place as soon as possible after death.
The roughly 1,000 attendees said it would hold the sit-in until their demands are met. Authorities say they are still trying to track down and arrest the attackers and police raids were underway in the area.
Officials held talks with Shia leaders to persuade the Hazaras to end the protest, as many at the rally, including women and children, were crying over the miners’ coffins.
“Whenever terrorists kill our people, the government sends its representatives to say they will take care of our protection. We have never received protection in the past. We want the arrest of the murderers of our people, ”said Daud Agha, a prominent Shia leader.
The murder of the miners was largely condemned across the country, with Prime Minister Imran Khan promising that the families of the victims would be taken care of and the perpetrators brought to justice.
Pakistan’s Hazara community has been targeted many times by Sunni militant groups, including the Islamic State group, in recent years. IS has also declared war on minority Shias in neighboring Afghanistan and has claimed a number of deadly attacks across the region since 2014.
A suicide attack on an open-air market in Quetta in April 2019 killed 20 people. At the time, IS said to have been targeted by Shias and elements of the Pakistani army.
Last January, ISIS claimed responsibility for a powerful explosion that tore through a mosque in Quetta during evening prayers. The blast killed a senior police officer and 13 others, and injured another 20 worshipers.
Pakistan’s Baluchistan province has also been the scene of a low-level uprising in recent decades by separatists demanding greater autonomy and a greater share of the region’s natural resources, such as gas and oil.