ran has once again underscored the importance of collective cooperation among all regional countries to battle terrorists, urging Muslim nations to block ways for sponsoring Takfiri groups.

In a statement on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh condemned the killing of 11 coal miners in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
"It is essential that Muslim world countries, in cooperation with each other, focus their utmost efforts on the elimination of the ideological grounds and financial support for these extremist and Takfiri groups,� he said.
The Iranian spokesperson added that Muslim nations should also �prevent the continued support for terrorist groups by certain countries with the purpose of ending violence against innocent people from various religions and faiths.�

He noted that the �criminal move� in Pakistan once again necessitated collective cooperation among all countries in the region in the fight against Takfiri and terrorist groups.

Khalid Durrani, a government official in Pakistan's Balochistan Province, said the attack took place in Machh town, located 60 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital Quetta, before dawn on Sunday.

He further said the miners, who were members of the minority Hazara Shia Muslim community, were attacked while they were sleep, adding that the armed men took them to a secluded area in the nearby hills where they were later killed.

This is the first major attack targeting the Hazaras since April 2019 when a bomb blast at a market in Quetta killed at least 20 people.

Shia Muslims of the Hazara minority frequently come under attack by terrorists active in Balochistan.

Many Hazaras originally fled from Afghanistan during decades of conflict in the country.

Pakistan�s restive and mineral-rich Balochistan Province was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks in late 2016, raising fears about an increasing presence of armed militants in the area, including terrorists linked to Daesh.

Separatist militants in the province have also been engaged in a decades-long campaign against the central government.