QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) – Hundreds of Pakistani Shiites gathered on Saturday to bury 11 coal miners from the Islamic State group Hazara who were killed by the Islamic State group, ending a week of protests to highlight the plight of the community.
Protesters held a sit-in when the militant group captured and shot the miners last Sunday in Machh, an area about 50 kilometers east of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s difficult province of Baluchistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Quetta on Saturday afternoon and according to his office, he would meet with a delegation of mourners and Shiite leaders. Khan’s visit came after Shiite protesters across the country – who blocked roads in major cities – demanded that he visit the grieving minority community in Quetta and ensure their protection.
Khan on Friday called on the protesters not to link the funeral of the coal miners to his visit to Quetta, and promised that he would visit afterwards. According to Islamic tradition, funerals take place as soon as possible after death.
“No prime minister of any country should be blackmailed in this way,” Khan said in television remarks.
Dozens of Shiites gathered in the capital, Islamabad, on Friday night, condemning Khan for calling the mourners blackmailers.
The prime minister sent a group of ministers and top officials to negotiate with the Hazara community, which led to the mourners agreeing to a funeral.
Violent attacks on Shiites and other religious minorities remain a problem in Pakistan with the Sunni majority.
Before Khan came to power in 2018, Khan often criticized Pakistani leaders for not doing more to stop attacks on the Hazara community, and for not rushing to Quetta to express sympathy for similar assaults. not.
IS militants kidnapped the miners in Baluchistan on Sunday and then shot dead. In the police video of their bodies, it appears that the miners were blindfolded, and their hands were tied behind their backs before being shot.
The IS branch immediately took responsibility and authorities raided militant shelters to track down and arrest those who organized the killings. Khan maintained Pakistan’s neighbor India was behind the violence in Baluchistan.