Maryam Nawaz urges Hazara community to bury slain coal miners

• Maryam tells mourners to not wait for an "insensitive and heartless" man
• CM Balochistan also visits protest camp and urges mourners to bury the slain men
  

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has appealed to the Hazara community protesting at the Western Bypass in Balochistan to bury the coal miners that were slain in a shocking attack by armed terrorists on Sunday.

Taking to Twitter, Maryam said the murder of the coal miners was not a small tragedy. "The whole nation shares your grief. My father and I are saddened too."

Asking the mourners to not wait for an "insensitive and heartless" man, Maryam appealed for the slain coal miners to be buried. "May Allah (SWT) elevate their ranks in the hereafter and grant you patience."

The killings

The miners were kidnapped before dawn on Sunday as they slept near the remote coal mine in the southwestern mountainous Machh area — 60 kilometres southeast of Quetta city, a local government official said.

Security officials who did not want to be named told AFP that the attackers first separated the miners before tying their hands and feet and taking them into the hills to kill them.

The attack has been claimed by D'aesh.

Read more: Balochistan CM visits protesting Hazaras

The protest

Members of the Hazara community, including women and children, have staged a sit-in at the Western Bypass for the past four days in extremely cold weather.

Thousands of mourners have blockaded the highway with bodies of the 10 coal miners and refused to end the sit-in until PM Imran Khan personally meets the mourners.

Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) leader Syed Agha Raza has asserted that the mourners "will not compromise on the blood of the coal miners".

Read more: Karachi's Hazaras fear for their safety as well

Negotiations

Earlier today, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan visited the protest camp and urged the demonstrators to end the sit-in and bury the slain coal miners.

He also met Hazara community members at the Imambargah Wali Asr in Hazara Town and assured them that his government was working towards eradicating terrorism since he took office.

Late Tuesday, PM aide Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari arrived in Quetta with Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi to hold talks with the protestors.

A day prior, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed also visited the city and held meetings with Hazara community leaders and provincial government officials. He announced a compensation of Rs2.5 million for the families of the slain coal miners.

PM Imran Khan to visit soon

PM Imran Khan reassured the Hazara families that he was cognisant of their sufferings and demands, and urged them to bury the slain coal miners.

He said that the government was taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future and blamed India for instigating sectarian terrorism.

"I share your pain and have come to you before also to stand with you in your time of suffering," he wrote. 

"I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally. I will never betray my people's trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace."