Civil-military leadership vows to punish culprits of Machh massacre

The top civil and military leadership of the country has vowed to punish the culprits involved in the killing of Hazara colliers in a remote area of Balochistan earlier this month.

The regional franchise of the Da’ish terrorist group, which is operating out of Afghanistan’s lawless border regions, had claimed responsibility for the grisly slaughter of 11 Hazara coal-miners in Machh area of Bolan district, around 100kms southeast of Quetta, on January 3.

The statement comes after army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on Monday.

“Director General ISI Lt General Faiz Hamid was also present in the meeting,” according to an official statement issued by the PM Office.

It said the national security situation was discussed during the meeting.

During the meeting the unfortunate Machh incident was highly condemned and it was resolved that the perpetrators would be brought to justice, the communiqué added.

The continuous human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and the frequent ceasefire violations over the Line of Control also came under discussion, said the statement.

Earlier in the day, chief military spokesperson Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said India was involved in promoting anti-Pakistan agenda in six domains, which include abetting terrorism, targeting economy, using diplomacy, fomenting chaos, Kashmir and social issues.

He said the EU DisinfoLab revealed New Delhi's planned propaganda against Pakistan on the behest of the State of India.

“Indian aggression in Kashmir was cleverly kept in hiding from the international watch, while an unfounded propaganda was unleashed in favour of revocation of Article 370,” he said, adding that the EU parliamentarians were invited to visit the IIOJK in personal capacity, but they were portrayed as EU representatives.