20 Pakistani coal miners killed in shooting attack

In an overnight attack, 20 coal miners were shot dead by a group of heavily armed men who stormed their lodgings in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, police reported on Friday. Separatist groups in Balochistan frequently target natural resource extraction sites across the mineral-rich but impoverished province.

Up to 40 attackers opened fire on the miners for about half an hour, starting around 12:30 am, before fleeing, said Asim Shafi, the police chief of Duki district, where the incident occurred. "They were armed with rocket launchers and hand grenades," he told AFP.

Kaleemullah Kakar, a senior government official in the district, confirmed the death toll and reported that seven others were injured. "The attackers also set fire to the machinery at the site," he added.

There were conflicting reports regarding the origins of the victims.

Many extraction projects in Balochistan are funded and operated by foreign countries, particularly China, which separatist factions accuse of exploiting the region's wealth. 

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) recently claimed responsibility for a bombing in southern Karachi that killed two Chinese workers at a coal plant. Ethnic Baloch militants also frequently target migrant workers from other parts of Pakistan, especially Punjabis from the east.

Punjabis, Pakistan's largest ethnic group, dominate the military, which has been battling insurgents in Balochistan for decades. In August, coordinated BLA attacks across the province resulted in the deaths of dozens of mostly Punjabi laborers.

This latest attack comes just days before Pakistan is set to host a summit for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional bloc led by China and Russia.