A staff member of Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) was killed and 14 others injured on Saturday after a powerful blast struck the convoy of its survey team visiting an oil exploration site in Balochistan’s Harnai district, confirmed a senior local administration official. MPCL, the largest petroleum company in Pakistan, was granted a license in 2001 by the central government to explore oil and gas reservoirs across the country. Earlier this year in February, it announced the discovery of highly promising hydrocarbons in Balochistan’s Kohlu district, adjacent to the Harnai district. The area has been a hotbed for Baloch separatists who have frequently targeted security forces and laborers working on strategic projects in the region. Speaking to an international news outlet Arab News, the deputy commissioner of the area, Ali Javed Domki, said the survey staff of MPCL was targeted in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion while conducting a survey near the mountainous areas of the Harnai district. “One employee of the company was killed and 14 injured when their vehicle was hit by a powerful explosion,” he continued. “[The paramilitary] Levis teams rushed to the spot after the blast and shifted the injured to Quetta for better medical care.”