A blast hit a vehicle carrying laborers in southwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 10.
The laborers were traveling to a market in Harnai, in the restive Balochistan province, when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device, a local official, Saleem Tareen, told the French AFP news agency.
"Ten mine workers were killed in an attack in Harnai district," another local official, Shahzad Zahri, said. Local media outlets such as Geo News put the death toll at 11, adding that many of those injured were in critical condition.
Harnai lies some 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan.
Authorities launched an investigation into the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility. But the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant organization fighting for independence, is active in the Balochistan province that borders Afghanistan and Iran. The group usually targets security forces as well as Pakistanis from other provinces.
Geo News reported that most of the workers killed or injured on Friday came from the village of Puran in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The BLA has also targeted Chinese projects in the region, arguing that outsiders are exploiting the resource-rich Balochistan while the impoverished residents are left behind.
Responding to the latest attack, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed his "commitment to actively working toward eradicating the menace of terrorism from the country."
