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ISLAMABAD —Pakistani authorities said Sunday suspected insurgents killed at least seven workers and abducted 20 others at gunpoint in two attacks overnight in the country's southwestern Balochistan province.
The violence occurred in the Panjgur and Musakhail districts of the sparsely populated insurgency-hit province, which is rich in natural resources.
Police said that gunmen attacked a home in Panjgur at around midnight Saturday, spraying its occupants with bullets before fleeing on motorcycles. They added that the gunfire wounded one person and that the victims were laborers from the eastern Punjab province.
The second attack took place early Sunday when a group of armed men stormed a gas and oil exploration company's site in Musakhail.
Dheeraj Kalra, the local assistant police commissioner, told VOA by phone that the assailants opened fire, vandalized equipment, took 20 workers as hostages, and then escaped.
"A search operation is currently underway in the area to locate the abducted individuals," he said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for either attack.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the violence and instructed provincial authorities to make all possible efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice, his office in Islamabad said.
Late last month, insurgents in Musakhail killed 23 passengers from Punjab who were visiting or working in Balochistan after pulling them off trucks and passenger vehicles.
The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack and a series of other raids across the province on the same day, resulting in the deaths of more than 50 people.
The violence marked the most widespread insurgent attacks in impoverished Balochistan in years, targeting security posts, railway lines, and passenger vehicles.
Several ethnic Baloch groups, including the BLA, accuse the central government of exploiting the province's natural resources, and claim their violent campaign is seeking an independent Balochistan.
Pakistani officials reject the allegations, saying insurgent activities are aimed at halting economic development in the region. The province shares the country's border with Afghanistan and Iran and is the site of major China-funded infrastructure projects.
The BLA, designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States, has recently intensified its attacks. It is known as the largest and most lethal group active in the region, repeatedly demanding that China withdraw from Balochistan and even targeting Chinese nationals working there.