QUETTA: A convoy of six coal-laden trucks en route to Punjab from Duki coal fields in Balochistan came under a gun attack in the Sanjavi area of Ziarat on Tuesday night, resulting in the death of a driver and causing injuries to another.

The unknown assailants targeted the convoy from nearby mountains. Three drivers, however, remained missing as the security forces could not trace their whereabouts following the attack.

Officials said that the trucks loaded with coal from Duki had reached the Baghao area of district Ziarat when unknown armed men perched on the nearby mountains opened fire late Tuesday night.

As a result of firing a truck driver lost his life and another got injured. “In the armed attack the trucks loaded with coal caught fire and were completely gutted before the security force reached the spot,” Ziarat Deputy Commissioner Liaquat Ali Khan Kakar said. Soon after receiving information about the firing, security forces rushed to the site and launched a search operation in the area to trace the armed men who were involved in the firing in Baghao.

“Three truck drivers were missing from the incident site,” official sources said, adding that forces were also searching the area for their recovery. However, there was no information about their location till the filing of this report. It was not the first attack on coal-loaded trucks in the area. Over two dozen trucks carrying coal to Punjab via the same route were burnt during the past year.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2024