( Image Courtesy : The Jerusalem Post)
Heavily armed Islamic extremists attacked an oil and natural gas extraction plant in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday , 23rd of May 2024. Leaving many casualties, the attack took place on a plant owned by a Hungarian company.
The attempted overnight siege was carried out by about 50 Islamic extremists, and has resulted in the death of 6 personnel. Out of the 6 deceased 4 were members of the paramilitary force while 2 were private security personnel.
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The attack
( Image Courtesy : India Today )
The attack on the plant took place on 23rd May at around midnight. The power plant is located at Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Northwest Pakistan.The attempted siege was on the Natural gas and oil extraction plant owned by the MOL group , a multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Budapest.
Since the Taliban had returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 , Pakistan has seen a major surge in terrorist activities and this siege is believed to be a part of the same as well.These extremist outfits mostly attack security forces, and foreign interests that they accuse of exploitation.
The district police chief Mr.Asif Bahadur said that the attackers had supplies of light and heavy arms and that they also fired mortar shells at the security forces , leading to an hour-long confrontation between security forces and the militants.
The MOL group has operated its Pakistani outfit from 1999, and provides employment to more than 400 people.A similar attack took place at two empty girl’s schools on Monday in the same province.
The Hungarian Response
( Image Courtesy : Geo.tv )
The spokesperson of the Hungarian embassy in Islamabad said that they were assessing the information available on the incident. He further added that no diplomatic action was planned by the Hungarian government.With diplomatic relations beginning from 1965 , Hungary and Pakistan have maintained strong relations with one another.Hungary had invested $ 1.4 Billion in the energy industry of Pakistan in 2013.
The Islamic Extremists.
( Image courtesy : The Defence Post )
Police chief Bahadur was of the opinion that militants came from the North Waziristan district. It has been a hotspot of militant activity, and was one of the most heavily targeted areas during the post – 9/11 invasion of Afghanistan by the United States.The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or the Pakistan Taliban is a group that separated from the Afghanistan Taliban. The group focuses more on Pakistan based operations. As of now the attack has not been claimed by any group.
Terrorism in Pakistan
( Image Courtesy : The News Now )
Pakistan has long suffered due to many terrorist activities that take place in the nation. According to the government of Pakistan, the direct and indirect cost of terrorism was $68 Billion.
From the Karachi police station attack to the Kandahari bazar bombing , the threats to Pakistan’s internal security are grave and need to be addressed with immediate effect, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Some of the major terror attacks on Pakistan are;
( Image courtesy : Times of India )
1.Peshawar mosque bombing : The mosque of the shiite muslims in Peshawar was attacked by the Islamic State. 63 people were killed and 196 were left injured.
( Image courtesy : The Dawn )
2.Panjur and Naushki raids: Leaving 195 people dead the Balochistan Liberation Army or BLA conducted a deadly attack on the Pakistani Frontier Corps in Balochistan.
( Image Courtesy : France 24 )
3.Mastung suicide bombing: the loss of 149 lives, a bomber conducted a deadly attack on an election campaign rally in Mastung, a province of Balochistan.
