At least 10 people were killed after a group of militants stormed a copper and gold mining project in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province.

The attack, which took place late Wednesday in the Darigwan area of Chagai district, is the latest in a wave of violence targeting resource-rich sites in the southwestern region.

According to local officials, approximately 40 militants arriving on motorcycles and other vehicles launched an assault on the site operated by National Resources Private Limited (NRL), a Pakistani mining company.

“The attack left ten people dead, including seven workers and three security personnel,” a local administration official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

The official added that there are unconfirmed reports of militants taking several employees hostage during the raid.

While no group has officially claimed responsibility, the region is a known stronghold for ethnic separatist movements, most notably the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

These groups have intensified their insurgency in recent years, often targeting infrastructure and personnel they believe are part of the federal government's exploitation of Balochistan's natural resources.

The province of Balochistan is Pakistan's largest by landmass but remains its most impoverished, lagging behind the rest of the country in education, employment, and economic development.

This disparity fuels the separatist narrative that the province's abundant mineral and gas wealth does not benefit the local population.

In response to the tragedy, NRL issued a statement acknowledging the attack but noted that security forces responded promptly to secure the perimeter.

The company also highlighted that 90 percent of its workforce consists of local residents, countering a common separatist grievance that mining projects primarily employ "outsiders" from the Punjab or Sindh provinces.

This latest bloodshed follows a massive coordinated offensive by the BLA in February, which resulted in over 190 deaths across the province, marking one of the deadliest periods in the region's long-standing conflict.

Source: AFP