At least 11 coal miners were kidnapped and later killed in southwesternPakistan on Sunday, officials said.

The incident took place in the remote Mach area of the southwesternBalochistan province, a key route to multi-billion-dollar China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) project, according to Murad Kaas, the deputycommissioner of the provincial capital Quetta.

Kaas told reporters that four miners were also injured in the incident, whowere taken in critical condition to a local hospital.

He said the miners were on their way when kidnapped by a group of armedmilitants who took them to nearby mountains and later shot them beforefleeing.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the killings terming it “yetanother cowardly inhuman act of terrorism.”

In a tweet, Khan said he has directed the law enforcing agencies to use allresources to bring the culprits to justice.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Baloch separatistsfrequently carry out attacks in the mineral-rich province.

In December, seven paramilitary troops were killed in a terrorist attack ona check post in the Harnai district of Balochistan.

Suspected Baloch separatists, which Islamabad accuses of being backed byNew Delhi, have also recently targeted the Chinese Consulate and PakistanStock Exchange buildings in Karachi.

The CPEC, a $64 billion flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative,aims to connect China’s strategic northwestern Xinxiang province to theGawadar seaport through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines totransport cargo, oil, and gas.