Thal Deputy Superintendent of Police Irfan Khan told , “Late at night, terrorists opened indiscriminate firing at the security personnel posted at MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company’s plant at the location of Mainji Khel.
“The soldiers bravely exchanged fire for two hours. Four personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and two from a private security company have been martyred in this attack,” he added.
Khan further said the terrorists were able to flee by taking advantage of the darkness at night time and that the bodies of the soldiers have been shifted to Thal Combined Military Hospital.
Reuters quoted Khan as saying that the attack on the gas plant was made by up to 50 terrorists, who targeted two wells — M-8 and M-10 — with heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades.
“The security guards at M-8 repulsed the terrorists’ attack but the casualties took place at M-10,” Reuters quoted Khan as saying. He added that the militants also damaged a solar power plant at the gas power plant before fleeing to adjoining North Waziristan, where they had come from.
AFP quoted district police chief Asif Bahadur as saying, “They (the terrorists) were armed with light and heavy weapons and fired mortar shells, killing six security personnel at the main entrance” of the site.
According to AFP, Bahadur blamed the attack on the militant outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), though no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
He added the attackers came from the nearby North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan and has historically been a hive of militancy, AFP reported.
Noor Wali Khan, a second district police official, also confirmed the attack and the death toll to AFP.
Meanwhile, AFP quoted a spokesman for the Hungarian embassy in Islamabad as saying that they are “assessing the information” and that no diplomatic action was planned.
The MOL Group has operated a Pakistan subsidiary since 1999 and employs 400 people in the country, according to their website.
The company did not immediately respond to either Reuters’ or AFP’s requests for comment.
Increase in terror attacks
Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the outlawed TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.
In his maiden press briefing last month, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had said that at least 293 people were martyred and 521 were injured in 436 terrorist incidents over the past year.
In KP, 192 people were martyred in 219 terror activities, while 80 people lost lives in 206 incidents in Balochistan, 14 people in five attacks in Punjab, and seven in six terrorism incidents across Sindh.
The DG ISPR had also said that overall 137 security personnel were martyred and 117 injured in anti-terror operations in the ongoing year.
According to reliable security sources, armed terrorists targeted the MOL Company plant, employing heavy weapons in their assault. Tragically, four Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldiers and two private security personnel valiantly defending the facility were killed in the attack.
The fallen heroes from FC Platoon No. 104, have been identified as Sepoy Hamza Ali, Sepoy Shariatullah, Sepoy Mohammad Waleed, and Sepoy Zafar Azam. These brave individuals courageously fought the terrorists for over two hours, displaying unwavering dedication to their duty.
During the attack, four sub-machine guns (SMGs) with magazines, one light machine gun (LMG) with magazines, and grenades belonging to the FC platoon were reported missing. Additionally, two rifles belonging to the company were also unaccounted for. I
in the search operation following the incident, Baz Muhammad, a soldier from Platoon 104 who initially went missing, was discovered unconscious along with his weapons. He has been promptly transferred to a hospital for medical treatment.
The perpetrators of the attack managed to escape before the security forces could apprehend them. However, in response to the incident, intensive search operations have been initiated in the surrounding area to track down the fleeing terrorists.
A violent clash between the Sunikhel and Akhorwal tribes in the Dara Adam Khel
According to the Kohat Police spokesperson, the dispute between the two tribes, both of whom are part of the hill community of Bulandari, turned violent when they faced each other in the disputed mountain range. Suddenly, firing started, resulting in the deaths of 12 people from the Sunikhel community and four people from the Akhorwal community.
The deceased have been identified as Shah Nawaz, Khalid, Asif, Shahid, Jan Muhammad, Nader Khan, Ibrahim, Majid, Momin, Hamid, Safiullah, Asim, Syed Nawaz, Umar, Muhammad Asrar, and Kashif Ali. Meanwhile, the injured include Sajjad, Taimur, and Bakhtiar, who has been shifted to local and Peshawar hospitals.
In response to the incident, District Police Officer Kohat Farhan Khan, DSP Dara Adam Khel Abid Afridi, SHO Dara Adam Khel Tariq Mehmood, and military and civil administration officials have reached the area. They informed the two tribes about the incident and called for a Jirga, which will be attended by the chiefs and leaders of the various tribes of Dara Adam Khel, in order to stop the conflict and maintain regional peace.
An FIR has been registered in Dara Adamkhel police station, naming the persons of the warring parties.
It should be noted that the dispute between the Sunikhel and Akhorwal nations over the demarcation of the Bulandari Hill had been going on for a long time and a Jirga was being held between the two tribes. However, due to the adamant nature of the local people on both sides, a tragic incident occurred, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.
