Islamist militants attacked the MOL oil and gas production facility in the north-western part of Pakistan on today, killing four police officers and two private security guards, according to the local police. So far, no terrorist organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack, carried out by nearly 50 armed militants, took place at the facility operated by MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company in the Hangu district near the Afghan border, police official Irfan Khan has been quoted as saying.
According to the police, the militants targeted two wells, M-8 and M-10, with heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades. ‘The security guards at M-8 repelled the terrorists‘ attack, while the casualties occurred at M-10,‘ Khan said.
He added that the militants also damaged a solar power plant on the premises of the gas facility before fleeing back to the neighbouring North Waziristan from where they had arrived. The company has not yet responded to the news of the attack.
MOL has been present in Pakistan since 1999 and its local infrastructure was last attacked in 2011. That attack also resulted in six casualties. MOL‘s infrastructure was not hit, and there was no damage to the facility reportedly.
Various armed groups, including Pakistani Taliban, have been operating from the north-western mountains of the country for years, launching regular attacks against security forces and infrastructure as part of their campaign against the state, as reminded by Reuters.
Index learned from MOL that the target of the attack was not MOL‘s infrastructure. The attack was likely carried out by the Taliban, who, according to the source of the newspaper, ‘are shooting at everything they can these days.‘ The company also confirmed to the news website that there are no MOL employees among those killed.
