Five private guards killed as gunmen attack dam construction site in southwestern Pakistan

QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen attacked an under-construction dam site in southwestern Pakistan late Monday night, killing five private security guards providing protection to laborers and construction machinery in Prom, a remote area of Panjgur district, the local Levies force said.
Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which shares porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran, has been a scene of low-level insurgency for decades. Ethnic Baloch nationalists have long accused the central government of exploiting the province’s natural resources without benefiting its population, though the state denies these allegations.
The late-night attack took place in an area where a private construction company was working near the Iran border, about 65 kilometers from Panjgur city, according to Abdullah Baloch, a Levies personnel who spoke to Arab News. He said the victims were guarding the laborers at the construction site.
“Five people from Panjgur, Quetta, and Sindh province were killed in the attack, and two others sustained bullet injuries and were shifted to a hospital,” he said.
Baloch added that the attackers torched the machinery belonging to a private company working on the dam before fleeing the scene.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, separatist militant groups have previously targeted laborers and attacked construction machinery in the Makran region of Balochistan.
In September, unknown armed men attacked a construction site in Musakhail district, setting six dozers on fire. Earlier this month, at least 21 laborers were killed in an overnight attack on coal mines in Dukki, sparking protests in the area.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the Panjgur attack, directing provincial authorities to identify and punish the perpetrators.
“No one can stop development in Balochistan with such timid attacks,” he said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that there is no space for such miscreants in Pakistan.
Dr. Anwar Aziz, district health officer Panjgur, confirmed that five dead bodies were brought to the hospital before being sent to their native towns.
“Two people with minor bullet wounds were treated and later discharged from the hospital,” he told Arab News.