QUETTA: Two security personnel were martyred in a gun attack on a post guarding the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) oil and gas exploration site in the Iskalku area of Kalat district.

Officials said around 50 armed men attacked the PPL project area and the Frontier Corps (FC) post in the wee hours of Tuesday.

“In a heavy exchange of fire, two FC soldiers lost their lives,” Home Min­ister Ziaullah Langove said, adding that the attackers wanted to take all those deputed at the post hostage. Acting on the information soon after the launch of the attack, he said, more troops rushed to the site and foiled the attempt of the militants.

“As many as 20 FC men at the two posts were guarding the PPL exploration project site. After gun battles lasting several hours, 18 FC personnel were recovered from the check posts while two martyred,” Minister Langove said, adding that the militants first attacked an FC camp in the Khaliqabad area of Kakat district and fired rockets. There was no loss of life.

Just two hours later, some 50 militants attacked the FC post protecting the PPL gas exploration project site. However, PPL employees were not there as they had left the area some two years ago after the previous attack.

A spokesman for the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024