At least 10 killed in armed attack on mining site in Balochistan’s Chagai

QUETTA: At least 10 workers, including a Turkish national, were killed and eight others wounded when heavily armed assailants attacked a mining site in Balochistan’s Chagai district, officials said on Thursday, in one of the deadliest recent assaults on a private project in the region.

The attack targeted a site operated by National Resources Limited (NRL) in the remote Darigwan area of Chagai district on Wednesday evening, officials and the company said. The mountainous site lies around 100 km northwest of Dalbandin.

Local authorities and police said that dozens of gunmen stormed the facility from multiple directions, using automatic weapons as well as rockets and explosives.

Security sources said the attackers fired rockets and hurled bombs, triggering fires that damaged equipment and vehicles.

Hospital officials said that 10 bodies were brought to Prince Fahad Hospital in Dalbandin, along with eight injured workers who were later shifted to Quetta for treatment.

“Six of the bodies were badly burnt, apparently due to fire, while others had bullet and blast injuries,” said hospital supervisor Zain Sanjrani.

Among those killed was a Turkish driller working at the site, while the other victims were Pakistani nationals from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.

A senior administrative official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were also reports that some workers may have been taken away by the attackers, although this could not be immediately confirmed.

Security guards at the site resisted the assault, triggering an intense exchange of fire in which at least three guards were killed, officials said.

Local sources said the assailants also set fire to drilling machinery, generators and other equipment, and took away company vehicles before fleeing the area.

Security forces, including the Frontier Corps, later secured the site and launched a search operation in the surrounding area, according to officials and the company.

In a statement, NRL said the attack took place at around 5:45 pm on April 22 and described the assailants as “unknown miscreants.”

It said security forces had responded promptly and that clearance operations were ongoing to ensure the safety of personnel and assets.

The company did not provide casualty figures but said it was coordinating closely with authorities and remained committed to its operations and local community development.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, separatist militant groups have long operated in Balochistan, where they have targeted security forces as well as infrastructure and private sector projects.

Violence has surged in recent years in the mineral-rich province, where insurgents accuse the state and foreign investors of exploiting local resources, a charge the government denies, saying development projects are aimed at economic uplift.