Pakistan: Hazaras Continue Protest On 5th Day, Refuse To Bury Slain Miners

Quetta: Thousands of Hazaras continue protest for the 5th day against the killing of 11 coal miners in the western Pakistani province of Balochistan.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility of the attack. They victims were kidnapped by militants and killed near the coal mine on Saturday.

The Hazara community is refusing to bury the slain miners, demanding Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit them and meet their demands.

The attack took place late on Saturday night, near the small town of Mach, not far from the provincial capital, Quetta, and close to the border with Afghanistan. Balochistan is the country's largest and poorest region.

Armed militants kidnapped the miners from their shared residence and took them to some nearby mountains.

Six of the miners were already dead when found, and five who were critically wounded died on the way to a hospital, a local official is quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper.

A gruesome video from the scene shows the victims' bodies strewn across the floor of a small hut - their hands had been bound together, reports the BBC's Secunder Kermani.