Twelve Attackers Killed After Reko Diq Convoy Comes Under Fire in Chagai

A convoy linked to Pakistan’s Reko Diq copper and gold project came under heavy fire as it travelled from the project site toward Quetta, triggering an exchange that lasted more than two hours.

The convoy consisted of about three dozen empty vehicles travelling under security protection in the Nokacha area of Chagai, officials said. Security personnel escorting the vehicles took positions and returned fire after unidentified armed men tried to intercept them.

Officials initially reported that 11 attackers had been killed at the scene and said arms, ammunition and heavy weapons were recovered. Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti later put the death toll among the attackers at 12. Two security personnel were injured. Reko Diq officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Bugti said intelligence-based targeted operations were continuing across the province. In a statement on X, he said, "There will be no negotiations with those who take up arms against the state and shed the blood of innocent citizens." He added that authorities would act against militants and their facilitators and would protect public lives and property.

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There will be no negotiations with those who take up arms against the state and shed the blood of innocent citizens.