A group of terrorists killed at least four Frontier Constabulary men and two private security guards when they attacked a Hungarian owned oil and gas exploration site in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the police said on Tuesday.

“The onslaught on the oil company occurred at 5:30pm on Tuesday,” Hangu DPO Asif Bahadur told Aaj News. “Police and security officers have started the search operation.”

They were identified as Sepoy Waleed, Sepoy Hamza Ali, Sepoy Shariat, Sepoy Zafar Azam, Sepoy Baaz, Sabz Ali (security guard), and Aseel Khan (security guard).

This is the third such attack in the last two years. On January 26, 2022, a security guard was killed and a supervisor kidnapped in a terrorist attack on the installation of an oil exploration company in Thall Tehsil of Hangu district.

Local sources told that the security forces have tightened the security of oil and gas fields in the city, which is home to many such facilities.

The DPO added that the post-mortem examination of the bodies was under way.

Locals said that oil production from two to three plants – out of eight to 10 – was under way in the city. In some plants, the boring process was on.

Pakistan has seen an increase in militancy since the Taliban returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, with attacks mostly targeting security forces and foreign interests accused of exploitation.

About 50 fighters attacked a site owned by the Budapest-headquartered MOL Group, Bahadur told AFP.

“They were armed with light and heavy weapons and fired mortar shells, killing six security personnel at the main entrance” to the remote site near the Afghan border,“ he said.

“The exchange of fire continued for more than an hour. Police forced the militants to flee,” Bahadur added.

He blamed the attack on Pakistan’s domestic chapter of the Taliban movement – the most active militant group in the region – although there has been no claim of responsibility.

Noor Wali Khan, a second district police official, confirmed the attack and the death toll.

The MOL Group has operated a Pakistan subsidiary since 1999 and employs 400 people in the country, according to their website.

“We are assessing the information,” a spokesman for the Hungarian embassy in Islamabad told AFP, adding that no diplomatic action was planned.

The MOL Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bahadur said the attackers came from the nearby North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan and has historically been a hive of militancy.

Police told Reuters that 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.

The militants also damaged a solar power plant at the gas power plant before fleeing to adjoining North Waziristan, where they had come from, he said.

“Pakistan’s oil and gas production has been falling continuously. Oil production is down 18% in FY22 from FY 19; while gas is down 14% in the same period,” says Fahad Rauf, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities.

He said no major discoveries were made in recent years, largely due to the security situation, circular debt, and lack of local technical expertise.

“The country has exploited much of the existing producing areas but is not able to explore belts near the Afghan border due to the security situation,” adds Rauf.

Rauf says that foreign investment and exploration activity was picking up in the Waziristan belt, however, the situation has worsened since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“Foreign companies have been exiting for past many years, while Pakistan lacks the expertise and funds to tap unconventional reserves despite having one of the highest shale reserves in the world,” he adds.

During America’s post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan, the area was heavily targeted by drone strikes and an Islamabad military offensive to rout Islamist fighters.

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan was formed in 2007 by militants who splintered off from the Afghan Taliban to focus their fight on Islamabad for supporting America’s invasion.

On Monday, officials said two empty girls’ schools in the province were attacked overnight by militants, leaving nine classrooms destroyed but no casualties. The attack has not been claimed by any group.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)