Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a news conference in Kabul. (File photo: Reuters)
Pakistan’s PM visits families of Quetta terror attack victims after days of protests
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Quetta city to meet the families of the 11 Hazara coal miners that were brutally murdered in a terrorist attack last week in the Balochistan province.
The families, and hundreds of protesters had staged a six-day sit-in, and refused to bury the victims until the prime minister personally, visited them to promise them justice.
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ISIS militants abducted the miners before dawn on January 3, as they slept near a coal mine in the town of Machh, 60 kilometers southeast of Quetta.
The attackers separated the miners before they shot several, and beheaded others, unnamed security officials told AFP last week.
Mourners from Shia Hazara community chant slogans near the coffins of the miners during a sit-in protest. (AFP)
Hazaras is an ethnic minority group in Pakistan, comprising Shia Muslims. The Hazaras are increasingly vulnerable to attacks by insurgents who consider them heretics.
Protesters expressed anger over Khan’s delayed visit, urging the prime minister to take action to make sure the minority community is well-protected.
Following his visit to the families, Khan held a high-level meeting to review the situation in the province. He also confirmed that the government would be providing $15,560 in compensation to the family of each victim.
The families announced early on Saturday morning that they would be burying their dead after an agreement was reached with the government.
Federal Maritime Minister Ali Zaida, who attended the funeral along with several other officials, shared the agreement offered by the government to the Hazara community on Twitter.
“Attached are demands and written agreement offered by the Govt. Although, no one can ever put a value on human life, but for info, the agreed compensation is higher than what the agreement says,” he wrote on Twitter.
Attached are demands + written agreement offered by the Govt.
— Ali Haider Zaidi (@AliHZaidiPTI) January 8, 2021
Although, no one can ever put a value on human life, but for info, the agreed compensation is much higher than what the agreement says.
Q: If all is agreed, then who is playing politics with bodies of the martyrs? pic.twitter.com/2OEnJVaavT
The agreement confirms that a high-level commission will investigate the Quetta terror attack, and other attacks against the Hazara community, and speed up punishment against those involved in these crimes.
Read more:
Pakistani Hazara minority continues sit-in over killing of 11 miners from community
Thousands of Pakistani Shia mourn miners killed in attack claimed by ISIS
