Armed attackers storm Pakistan coal mines, killing at least 21

About 40 assailants fired rockets and hurled grenades at mines and miners' quarters in country's south-west, days before regional summit in Islamabad

Dozens of attackers armed with guns, rockets and hand grenades have stormed a cluster of private coalmines in south-western Pakistan on Friday, shooting some miners in their sleep and others after lining them up, killing at least 21, police have said.

The attack by about 40 armed men days before Pakistan hosts a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation grouping is the worst in weeks in the restive, mineral-rich province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran.