QUETTA: A staff member of Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) was killed and 14 others injured on Saturday after a powerful blast struck the convoy of its survey team visiting an oil exploration site in Balochistan’s Harnai district, confirmed a senior local administration official.
MPCL, the largest petroleum company in Pakistan, was granted a license in 2001 by the central government to explore oil and gas reservoirs across the country. Earlier this year in February, it announced the discovery of highly promising hydrocarbons in Balochistan’s Kohlu district, adjacent to the Harnai district.
The area has been a hotbed for Baloch separatists who have frequently targeted security forces and laborers working on strategic projects in the region.
Speaking to Arab News, the deputy commissioner of the area, Ali Javed Domki, said the survey staff of MPCL was targeted in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion while conducting a survey near the mountainous areas of the Harnai district.
“One employee of the company was killed and 14 injured when their vehicle was hit by a powerful explosion,” he continued. “[The paramilitary] Levis teams rushed to the spot after the blast and shifted the injured to Quetta for better medical care.”
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for attacking the convoy.
Chief Minister Balochistan Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti strongly condemned the attack and called the it a “cowardly move by terrorists.”
“People of Balochistan and the security forces are united against the enemies of peace who want to terrorize the masses,” he added.
Bugti ordered an inquiry report about the attack on MPCL staff members from the provincial home department and directed quality health care for the injured.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks against security forces and foreign workers in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in recent month.
Five Chinese engineers working on a hydroelectric project were killed in a suicide attack in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province earlier this week.
Balochistan, which is rich in natural resources, has been a scene of low-level insurgency for several decades where separatist groups continue to launch violent attacks against security personnel and foreign nationals.
