Hazara Shia Muslims refuse to bury dead as Pakistan protest continues
Hundreds of mourners in Pakistan protested Wednesday for a fourth day alongside the bodies of miners killed in a brutal attack by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, as officials urged them to bury their dead.
According to reports, up to 2,500 people from Hazara Shia Muslim community have since Sunday blocked a road on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, demanding better protection.
"This is systematic ethnic cleansing of Hazaras in Balochistan and our security forces are behaving like lame ducks, doing nothing," said Zainab Ahman, an activist among the mourners.
There were also protests in the port city of Karachi.
Ten miners were kidnapped by terrorists from a remote colliery before being taken to nearby hills where most were shot dead.
Some were beheaded, said officials who did not want to be named.
Two ministers, representing the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, flew to Quetta on Wednesday to try to convince the mourners to end the protest.
Khan tweeted that the government was taking steps to prevent such attacks, but gave no details.
"Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace," he added.
Ethnic Hazaras make up most of the Shia Muslim population in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan -- the country's largest and poorest region, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.
The attack was claimed by extremist Daesh terrorists, according to SITE Intelligence, which monitors the group activities worldwide.
Daesh is affiliated with the local terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which itself had links to Pakistan's Taliban.
Pakistani officials have long denied the presence of Daesh in the country, but the group has claimed a number of attacks including a bombing at a vegetable market in 2019.
SS
