Gunmen kill 20 miners and wound others in an attack in southwestern Pakistan

Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded another seven in southwestern Pakistan, a police official said on Friday, drawing condemnation from authorities who had ordered police to track down and arrest those responsible for the killings.

It is the latest attack in the restive Balochistan province and comes just days before a major security summit in the capital.

Police officer Hamayun Khan Nasir said the gunmen stormed the coal mine accommodation in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire.

Most of the men came from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghans.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, which often targets civilians and security forces.

The group carried out several attacks in August that killed more than 50 people, while authorities killed 21 insurgents in the province. Those killed included 23 passengers, mostly from the eastern province of Punjab, who were fatally shot after being taken off buses, vehicles and trucks in Balochistan’s Musakhail district.

The latest attack was strongly condemned by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, who said the “terrorists had once again targeted poor workers”.

He said the attackers were cruel and intended to destabilize Pakistan. “The killing of these innocent workers would be avenged,” he said in a statement.

The province is home to several separatist groups seeking independence. They accuse the federal government in Islamabad of unfairly exploiting oil and mineral-rich Balochistan at the expense of the locals.

On Monday, a group called the Baloch Liberation Army said it had carried out an attack on Chinese nationals outside Pakistan’s largest airport. There are thousands of Chinese working in the country, most of them involved in Beijing’s multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative.

The blast, which the BLA said was the work of a suicide bomber, also raised questions about the Pakistani armed forces’ ability to protect high-profile events or foreigners in the country.

Islamabad will host a summit next week of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group set up by China and Russia to combat Western alliances.

Authorities have increased security in the capital by deploying troops to prevent terrorist attacks.

The Interior Ministry had this week warned the country’s four provinces to take additional measures to improve security as separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban could carry out attacks on public places and government facilities.