QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) – Hundreds of minority Shiites continued a demonstration for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday in southwestern Pakistan to protest the death of 11 Shiite Hazara coal miners by the Islamic State group.
Despite Prime Minister Imran Khan’s request that miners be buried, family members insisted that they would only do so when Prime Minister Imran Khan visited them in person to ensure their protection.
Residents and relatives began their protest on Sunday outside Quetta, after IS militants kidnapped and killed the miners in Balochistan province. Six died at the scene and five, seriously injured, died en route to a hospital.
The IS Sunni affiliate has declared war on minority Shiite Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan and has staged dozens of attacks in both counties since it emerged in the region in 2014.
The Hazara community in Pakistan has been targeted many times in recent years by Sunni militant groups, including the Islamic State group, which quickly took responsibility after the kidnappers were kidnapped and killed.
The police video of the bodies revealed that the miners were blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs before being shot. Sunday’s attack occurred near the Machh coal field, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
Since then, the police have been conducting operations to arrest the attackers.
According to Islamic tradition, burials take place as quickly as possible after death. But the Shiites refused to bury the dead. They also said they would not hold funerals until the authorities arrested the killers.
Khan accessed Twitter on Wednesday to ask the Hazara community to bury coal miners and said he would visit them soon.
“I want to assure the Hazara families that they lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Machh that I am aware of their suffering and their demands. We are taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future and we know that our neighbor is instigating this sectarian terrorism, “he said, in an apparent reference to archrival India.
“I will be back soon to offer prayers and condolences to all families personally. I will never betray the trust of my people. Please bury your loved ones so that their souls will find peace “, he tweeted.
Angered by the murder, hundreds of members of the Hazara community blocked several roads in Karachi, demanding government protection and asking authorities to arrest people linked to the deaths. Government officials have tried to convince them to end their protest peacefully, officials and police said.
Shi’ites have also carried out similar protests in large cities in eastern Pakistan’s Punjab province, demanding justice and threatening to expand their protests if the killers were not arrested.
“We want decisive action and the arrest of all those who killed our people,” Daud Agha, a Shi’ite leader, told reporters in Quetta. “We are sitting with the bodies of our loved ones here and we will only bury them when Imran Khan comes” and guarantees their protection.
The mourners are sitting on the Western Bypass Highway in Quetta amid winter temperatures, after blocking it since Sunday. They included family members of the dead miners who were seen lamenting, crying and cursing the attackers.
“My innocent 18-year-old son, Ghulam Ali, was killed. They ruined my world by killing my son, “said Bibi Hameeda, crying.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Asim Tanveer contributed to this report from Multan, Pakistan.