Unknown assailants reportedly attacked and destroyed a mineral extraction site and a cellular tower in Kalat on Sunday. The local officials have not yet commented on the attack.
According to sources, unknown assailants attacked a mineral extraction site in the Koh-i-Maraan mountainous ranges in district Kalat and destroyed the machinery. The vehicles of the levies forces stationed for the protection of the site were also destroyed in the attack. Large amounts of fluorite, a moderately expensive mineral, were being extracted from the site on daily basis. Fluorite is a speciality of the Koh-i-Maraan mountainous ranges in Kalat.
The attackers also attacked and destroyed a Ufone cellular tower in the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet but Baloch pro-independence groups have carried out similar attacks in the past. The ethno-nationalist groups have cautioned foreign companies from extracting minerals and other natural resources from Balochistan. The groups argue that the Pakistani state is exploiting the mineral-rich mountains of Balochistan for its personal gain – people all over Pakistan benefit from these resources but the Baloch, the heirs of the land, long for a meagre share of their resources.
In a separate development, the Pakistani security forces were attacked by unidentified assailants in district Sibi. Two soldiers of the Frontier Corps were critically wounded in the attack, but no fatalities were reported. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the officials have also not commented on the incident.
The Pakistani forces were also targeted in a grenade attack in Panjgoor by the Balochistan Liberation Front. One personnel of the forces was injured in the attack but no fatalities were reported. The Baloch Republican Guards claimed responsibility for the attack on a vehicle of the Pakistani security forces.
It is pertinent to mention that a few days ago, the Pakistani security forces were targeted in a devastating attack by the Baloch Liberation Army in Sibi which resulted in seven deaths and left several others critically wounded.