Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday met the families of 11 coal miners killed in a brutal attack by the Islamic State terrorists in the restive Balochistan province, hours after the minority Shia Hazara community members ended their week-long protest and buried the bodies.
The miners from the Shia Hazara community were shot dead after \being abducted by the Islamic State terrorists on Sunday last in Mach area of the restive province.
Following the incident, their relatives and hundreds of other members of the community sat on a protest along with the coffins having victims’ bodies in the Western Bypass area of provincial capital Quetta amid harsh cold weather, insisting that they will bury the dead only when the prime minister personally visits them to assure protection.
However, Khan on Friday stirred a controversy by saying that he would not be blackmailed and visit only if the dead were buried.
Khan’s remarks invited sharp criticism from across the country, prompting a flurry of official activities to convince the families to perform the burial rites and end the controversy caused by the callous statement.
The deadlock ended after Balochistan chief minister Jam Kamal Khan visited the protesters for the second time and accepted their demands and told them about the prime minister’s plan to visit them soon.