Gunmen kill 20 miners in an attack in southwest Pakistan ahead of an Asian security summit

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded seven others in Pakistan’s southwest, a police official said Friday, drawing condemnation from authorities as a search was launched for the assailants.

The latest attack in restive Balochistan province came days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital.

The gunmen stormed the accommodation at a coal mine in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire, police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said. He said the attackers also fired rockets and lobbed grenades at the mine and damaged the machinery before fleeing.

Most of the casualties were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan. Angered over the violence, local shop owners pulled their shutters down to observe a daylong strike against the killings.

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

The group launched multiple attacks in August that killed more than 50. They included 23 people, mostly from eastern Punjab province, who were fatally shot after being taken from buses, vehicles and trucks in Musakhail district in Balochistan. Authorities responded by killing 21 insurgents in the province.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his deep sorrow over the coal mine killings and vowed to eliminate terrorism.

Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister in Balochistan, said “terrorists have once again targeted poor laborers." He said the attackers were cruel and had an agenda to destabilize Pakistan. “The killing of these innocent laborers will be avenged,” he said in a statement.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said those who killed the laborers would not be able to escape from the grip of the law.

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

On Monday, the BLA said it carried out an attack on Chinese nationals outside Pakistan's biggest airport. The bodies of the two slain Chinese engineers were sent to Beijing by a plane Thursday night, according to security officials.

There are thousands of Chinese working in the country, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.

Two suspects linked to a 2021 bombing that killed nine Chinese nationals and four Pakistanis working on a dam in the northwest were killed Friday in eastern Pakistan, counterterrorism police said.

Police said the suspects died when armed men attacked a van transporting the suspects to a prison in Sahiwal, a district in Punjab province. No officer was harmed in the shootout, the statement from counterterrorism police said.

Sunday's airport explosion, which the BLA said was the work of a suicide bomber, has raised questions about the ability of Pakistani forces to protect high-profile events or foreigners in the country.

Islamabad is hosting a summit next week of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a grouping founded by China and Russia to counter Western alliances.

Authorities have increased security in the capital by deploying troops.

The Interior Ministry this week alerted provinces to take additional measures as separatists and the Pakistani Taliban could attack public places and government installations.

The killings of the miners came hours after Saudi and Pakistani businessmen signed 27 investment agreements valued at $2 billion across various sectors, including mining in Balochistan.

Saudi Arabia also wants to invest in Reko Diq, a district in Balochistan famed for its mineral wealth, including gold and copper.

Balochistan’s Gwadar Port is an anchor in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative. The BLA has asked the Chinese workers to leave the province to avoid attacks.

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad.

An injured man receives treatment at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Thursday attack by gunmen in Balochistan province. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Injured men receive treatment at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Thursday attack by gunmen in Balochistan province. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

An injured man receives treatment at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Thursday night's attack by gunmen in Balochistan province. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Injured men receive treatment at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Thursday attack by gunmen in Balochistan province. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Injured men receive treatment at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Thursday attack by gunmen in Balochistan province. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — England notched one of its most memorable test wins as it beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs on the fifth and final day of the first cricket test on Friday.

Pakistan was bowled out for 220 inside the first session as Salman Ali Agha (63) and Aamer Jamal (55 not out) delayed the inevitable with their fighting half centuries.

Ill No. 11 Abrar Ahmed, who has been in hospital for the last two days due to a fever, couldn’t bat as Pakistan suffered the embarrassment of becoming the first test-playing country to lose a match by an innings after scoring over 500 runs in the first innings.

Left-arm spinner Jack Leach picked up all the three wickets on the final morning to finish with 4-30 after fast bowlers Gus Atkinson and debutant Brydon Carse had mopped the Pakistan top-order on the fourth evening.

Carse and Atkinson, who is playing his first away test match, took eight wickets in the match while Chris Woakes set the tone of the England win by clean bowling first-innings centurion Abdullah Shafique off the first ball in the second innings.

Resuming on 152-6, Agha and Jamal resisted for an hour and stretched their partnership to 109 before Leach struck in his first over when he had Agha trapped leg before wicket off a straight delivery.

Leach then finished off the tail quickly by grabbing a stunning low return catch of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah was stumped after hitting the left-arm spinner for a straight six.

England had broken number of test records when it amassed 823-7 declared on the back of Harry Brook’s belligerent triple century and Joe Root’s impeccable 262 in reply to Pakistan’s first innings score of 556.

On Wednesday, Root also became England’s highest test run-scorer. He surpassed Alastair Cook as England’s leading run-scorer and batted with lot of determination in a record 454-run partnership with Brook in intense heat of Multan.

“The fitness Brook, Root and the bowlers showed, credit to them for the skills and determination to put the team in a winning position,” stand-in captain Ollie Pope said.

Pope was out for a duck in England’s mammoth total.

“I smoked a pull shot straight to mid-wicket, but it’s a team game and we’re on the right side of the performance,” Pope said.

Pope, who led the side in the first test in the absence of injured Ben Stokes, praised pace bowler Carse in his debut test and Leach, who made a comeback to test cricket after injury.

“Brydon on debut was awesome, charged with a lot of heart,” Pope said. “The way Jack Leach bowled, coming back into the side, fits right in and taking crucial wickets.

Pakistan's woeful run in test cricket continued with skipper Shan Masood losing his sixth successive test since being elevated as captain last year. It was also Pakistan’s seventh loss at home in 11 test matches with the last win coming against South Africa in February 2021.

“Harsh reality is that England found a way and we didn’t," Masood said. “No matter what the pitch is, quality sides will find a way and for us the learning is to find a way when we play test cricket."

Masood said his team is again demoralized after losing 3-0 to Australia, 2-0 to Bangladesh at home and collapsing in the testing hot weather of Multan against England.

“We’re hurt by the results, we’re hurt as a nation, we’re not getting the results that Pakistan cricket deserves. We have to get this right as a squad.”

The second test begins at Multan from next Tuesday with the final test scheduled for Rawalpindi from Oct. 24.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

England's Joe Root, center, and teammates walk off the field after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, left, and teammates walk off the field after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Zak Crawley, right, and teammates acknowledge crowd as they walk off the field after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

English fans cheer for their team on the end of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, left, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jamie Smith, left, removes bails to stump out to Pakistan's Naseem Shah during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, center in glasses, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jamie Smith, left, and Ollie Pope, center, appeal for LBW out of Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach takes the catch of Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha reacts as he walks off the field after his dismissal during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, left, celebrates with Ollie Pope after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, center in glasses, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, right, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Jack Leach, center, celebrates with Ollie Pope after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi during the fifth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

England's Ollie Pope, center, and teammates are congratulated each others after winning the first test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)