Sheikh Rasheed reaches Quetta, gets briefing on Machh killings

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad on Monday reached Quetta to meet with the members of the Hazara community after 10 coal miners hailing from the community were killed in Balochistan’s Machh area, ARY NEWS reported.

The interior minister left for Quetta in the plane of the prime minister and was accompanied by Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri.

Sheikh Rasheed presided over a meeting to review law and order situation in the province, which was also attended by chief secretary Balochistan, IG FC and others.

The minister was briefed over the Machh incident as Sheikh Rasheed termed it a tragic incident.

Before leaving for the provincial capital, Sheikh Rasheed telephoned renowned cleric Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and conveyed his condolence over the killing of Hazara community members.

“I am going to listen to the grievances of those staging sit-in after the incident on the directives of the prime minister,” he said.

While expressing his condolence over the Machh killings, the interior minister vowed to bring the perpetrators of the incident to justice.

It is pertinent to mention here that at least 12 coal miners were shot dead in a targetted incident in Machh town of Balochistan’s Bolan district on Sunday.

The coal miners were going to their workplace when unidentified armed men opened fire on them, the law enforcement agencies said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also condemned the killing of coal miners and directed the FC to use all resources to apprehend the culprits behind the shooting incident.

“The condemnable killing of 11 innocent coal miners in Machh Balochistan is yet another cowardly inhumane act of terrorism,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.

“[I] Have asked the FC to use all resources to apprehend these killers & bring them to justice. The families of the victims will not be left abandoned by the govt.”