<p>Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday accused Hazara Shiite protesters of blackmailing him, as they refused for a sixth day to bury the bodies of miners killed in a brutal attack claimed by the Islamic State group.</p>.<p>The 10 miners from the minority community were kidnapped near a remote coal mine in the southern province of Balochistan on Sunday by IS, a Sunni extremist group.</p>.<p>Shiite protesters, numbering up to 3,000, have since blocked a road on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of the oil- and gas-rich province, demanding better protection as well as a visit from Khan.</p>.<p>"No country's prime minister should be blackmailed like this, otherwise everyone will start blackmailing the prime minister," Khan said in Islamabad.</p>.<p>He said he would only visit Quetta once the funerals had taken place.</p>.<p>The community's refusal to bury the bodies is symbolic in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where according to Islamic culture people should be buried within 24 hours, before the next sunset.</p>.<p>Ethnic Hazaras make up most of the Shiite population in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan -- the country's largest and poorest region, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.</p>.<p>Hundreds have been killed over the past decade in attacks by Sunni militants, who consider them heretics. The Central Asian features of Hazaras have made them easy targets.</p>.<p>Several solidarity protests have taken place across Pakistan this week and Pakistani Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has offered her support.</p>.<p>"I am short of words to express my grief over the brutal killings of Hazara miners. This is not the first time that this has happened. But I hope it is the last," she tweeted.</p>.<p>"I request that PM @ImranKhanPTI meet with the victims' families as soon as possible."</p>.<p>IS is affiliated with the local militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which previously had links to Pakistan's Taliban.</p>.<p>Pakistani officials have long denied the presence of IS in the country, but the group has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including a bombing at a vegetable market in 2019.</p>
<p>Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday accused Hazara Shiite protesters of blackmailing him, as they refused for a sixth day to bury the bodies of miners killed in a brutal attack claimed by the Islamic State group.</p>.<p>The 10 miners from the minority community were kidnapped near a remote coal mine in the southern province of Balochistan on Sunday by IS, a Sunni extremist group.</p>.<p>Shiite protesters, numbering up to 3,000, have since blocked a road on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of the oil- and gas-rich province, demanding better protection as well as a visit from Khan.</p>.<p>"No country's prime minister should be blackmailed like this, otherwise everyone will start blackmailing the prime minister," Khan said in Islamabad.</p>.<p>He said he would only visit Quetta once the funerals had taken place.</p>.<p>The community's refusal to bury the bodies is symbolic in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where according to Islamic culture people should be buried within 24 hours, before the next sunset.</p>.<p>Ethnic Hazaras make up most of the Shiite population in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan -- the country's largest and poorest region, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.</p>.<p>Hundreds have been killed over the past decade in attacks by Sunni militants, who consider them heretics. The Central Asian features of Hazaras have made them easy targets.</p>.<p>Several solidarity protests have taken place across Pakistan this week and Pakistani Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has offered her support.</p>.<p>"I am short of words to express my grief over the brutal killings of Hazara miners. This is not the first time that this has happened. But I hope it is the last," she tweeted.</p>.<p>"I request that PM @ImranKhanPTI meet with the victims' families as soon as possible."</p>.<p>IS is affiliated with the local militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which previously had links to Pakistan's Taliban.</p>.<p>Pakistani officials have long denied the presence of IS in the country, but the group has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including a bombing at a vegetable market in 2019.</p>