Islamist militants stormed a natural gas and oil extraction plant in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing four police and two private guards, police said, according to Reuters.
The attack by up to 50 militants took place at a plant run by the MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company in Hangu district near the Afghan border, police official Irfan Khan said.
No group has claimed responsibility. The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The police said the militants 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," said Khan.
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.
Various militant factions, including the Pakistani Taliban, have operated for years out of remote mountains in the northwest, launching attacks on security forces and infrastructure in their campaign against the state.
