Protests are expanding into Karachi and other Pakistan cities over the killing of 11 Shi’ite Hazara minority coal miners near their mines by Islamic State fighters on Sunday. Police reported that at least 19 sit-ins took place throughout Karachi on Thursday, including on access routes to the airport, causing airline flight delays.
Some protesters have closed down a major highway in Quetta during their five-day-long vigil with coffins holding the miners’ bodies. They are demanding that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visit and meet with them. Khan sent three cabinet ministers to meet with the group and wrote on social media that “I will come again very soon to offer prayers and console with all the families personally.”
Seven of Sunday’s victims were seasonal migrant workers from Afghanistan and the country’s consulate in Quetta requested that the bodies of its citizens be repatriated as soon as possible. Islamic State militants filmed the killings, later posting footage online.
Over the past decade, hundreds of people from the Hazara minority group have been targeted for killing and attacks by Sunni Muslim terror groups in Pakistan.