Peace Like A River: Roundup of events in Balochistan

As before, these updates are from the South Asia Terrorism Portal.

May 17

A bomb exploded close to the office of an Afghan refugee organisation in the Nushki town of Balochistan province on May 16, according to Dawn. A wall of the office and windowpanes of nearby buildings were damaged. However, no casualty was reported.

Meanwhile, armed clashes occurred between security forces and insurgents in different areas of the Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts, while many landmines were defused in Loti and Sangsilla on May 16. However, no casualty was reported.

May 18

An explosive device planted under a gas pipeline exploded in Bugti Colony of the Sui area on May 17, killing a seven-year old girl, injuring two women and suspending gas supply to Sui gas plant. A large part of the 16-inch diameter pipeline was blown up, while sources added that following the explosion, armed tribesmen fired atleast 16 rockets attack on an Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) camp in the area. Three employees of the OGDC were injured as two rockets landed in the camp area, while a shop was destroyed and a patrol pump damaged in the rocket attack.

May 20

Suspected insurgents blew up two state-owned gas pipelines on May 19 in Balochistan, disrupting supplies but causing no casualties, according to Daily Times. No one claimed responsibility for the separate pre-dawn attacks in Sui, 350 kilometers east of provincial capital Quetta. Tariq Zubairi, a spokesman for the Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Ltd, said engineers had started repair work.

Meanwhile, the railway track linking Quetta with the border town of Chaman, near Faqirabad area, was blown up on May 19-night. Police said the powerful explosive device was planted under the railway line that went off blowing up the railway line. “One-and-a-half feet long piece of railway track blew up in the blast,” railway authorities confirmed to Dawn, adding that train service between Quetta and Chaman had been suspended for the time being.

In another incident, insurgents hurled a hand grenade at the house of Dr Hameed Panizai in the Geological Survey of Pakistan colony at Sariab road late night. However, no casualty was reported in the blast. Another explosion was reported from the industrial town of Hub. A wall of the office was slightly damaged, police said.

May 22

According to Daily Times, a tractor trolley carrying wheat crop hit a landmine near Patokh village in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan province on May 21, leaving the driver Wahid Bakhsh Bugti dead and one Abdul Majeed Bugti injured.

In the Hub town, four police personnel and five civilians, including a woman and her five-year-old daughter, were wounded when a bomb planted on a bicycle exploded near a police vehicle parked at the shrine of Pir Abdullah Shah Bukhari on Sakran Road.

In another incident, Baloch insurgents blew up a 16-inch gas pipeline in the Sui area of Dera Bugti district affecting supply from well No.50 of the gas field to the main plant.
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Explosions from Karachi to Neelum valley and the present insurgency in Balochistan and North Waziristan are conspiracies of the Indian intelligence and its military, said Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) ‘supreme commander’ and chairman of the Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC) Syed Salahuddin on May 21, reported The News. Addressing the Shan-e-Mustafa conference at Kasur in Punjab, he warned if Pakistan showed any kind of retreat or leniency on Kashmir issue at this critical stage, it would destabilise Pakistan because Jihad in Kashmir has entered a decisive stage and showing cowardice would provide an opportunity for Indian forces to infiltrate Balochistan and Waziristan.

May 25

According to Daily Times, clashes between security forces and Bugti tribesmen in various parts of Dera Bugti in Balochistan on May 24 left four security force personnel injured. “Four security men were injured in clashes with Bugti tribesmen in Loti, Samnay and Herog areas,” tribal elder Alam Khan Bugti told reporters.

Further, suspected insurgents fired rockets at the Pir Koh and Sui gas field. However, no damage was reported.

Meanwhile, security agencies have reportedly arrested an Afghan intelligence official, a former governor of Kandahar, two other Afghan nationals and two Pakistani gun-runners from a refugee camp in Loralai. According to Dawn, the intelligence officer, Abdul Rashid, had crossed into Pakistan illegally along with former Kandahar governor Abdul Qadir and they had been staying in the camp for two weeks. Official sources claimed that initial investigations had revealed that Rashid was trying to recruit Afghan refugees for subversive activities in Quetta and other areas.

May 26

According to Dawn, two villagers were killed when a landmine blew up a bullock cart near Lehri in the Sibi district of Balochistan province on May 25. “It was an anti-tank mine planted on the mud-road,” officials said.

Meanwhile, three missiles exploded in the outskirts of Sui. Further, security forces are reported to have foiled a second attempt in a week to blow up the house of Miwa Khan Bugti, seizing 25 kilograms of explosives planted near it in the Pir Koh area. Miwa Khan recently joined hands with the Government against Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti. Official sources said security forces also seized three anti-tank landmines in the Pir Koh area.

May 27

A huge fire broke out at Sui in the Balochistan province after two pipelines supplying gas to the Sui plant exploded on May 26-night, according to Dawn. Another pipeline was blown up near the Goth Mazari in the Punjab-Balochistan border area suspending supply of gas to some parts of the Punjab province, official sources said. Reports said that high explosives planted around the two big pipelines exploded at brief intervals. The blasts caused the huge fire which engulfed shops in the Sui bazaar. The Sui grid station and a police station were completely destroyed. “At least 60 shops, Sui grid station and levies thana were gutted, and the fire is still raging, posing threat to other shops in the township and nearby civilian settlements, a senior officer of the Sui police station told Dawn. However, no casualty has been reported.

In another incident, a 24-inch diameter main pipeline was blown up near the Goth Mazari village on the Balochistan-Punjab border on May 26-night. The pipeline supplies gas to many areas of Punjab.

Further, a shop was destroyed in a hand-grenade attack in the Nushki town, some 160 kilometers west of provincial capital Quetta, on May 25-night.

Elsewhere in the province, Baloch insurgents opened fire on the gas well No.1 in the Sui field. However, no damage was reported. Insurgents also fired three rockets in the Loti gas field area, but the rockets exploded in an open place. Police also found three rockets in the industrial town of Hub.

May 28

According to Daily Times, six security force (SF) personnel were killed and eight others sustained injuries during clashes with insurgents in the Dera Bugti area of Balochistan on May 27. “Sporadic clashes between security forces and tribesmen resulted in the killing of three security personnel and injuries to five others in Pir Koh area where a fierce exchange of fire took place between the two sides,” said insurgents’ ‘commander’ Mir Alam Khan Bugti. He said that SFs and insurgents also exchanged fire in the Sarloop area, 30kms east of Dera Bugti, which left one soldier dead. Two more SF personnel were killed as violence continued in the Loti area where rockets were fired on a gas field and shelling was continuing.

Elsewhere in the province, insurgents reportedly fired 19 rockets on SF check posts in the Sangsila, Gol Thekri and Pir Koh areas of Dera Bugti on May 27. No loss to life and property was reported.

May 29

Two soldiers were injured when insurgents fired five rockets at the Kohlu township in Balochistan province from nearby mountains on May 28.

Two more security force personnel were injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in the Sangsilla area of Dera Bugti district, according to Dawn.

Official sources informed that two civilians were wounded in another landmine explosion that was reported from the Haideri Nullah area of Pir Koh gas field.

Further, armed insurgents blew up a 16-inch- diameter gas pipeline in the Pash Bogi area with explosives. Gas supply to the Sui plant was reportedly suspended after the explosion.

Elsewhere in the province, two bomb explosions occurred in the Wadh town, some 380km south of provincial capital Quetta.

May 30

One person was killed and another sustained injuries in a landmine explosion at Sui in the Balochistan province on May 29, according to Dawn.

A six-year-old girl, identified as Maria, was killed and four women and two men sustained injuries in Mach when a powerful hand-grenade was hurled at a house in Makrani street.

During a landmine explosion in the Patokh area, 10-km from the Dera Bugti town, two security force personnel were wounded and in another incident in the Pash Bogi area, a civilian was injured.

Elsewhere in the province, armed insurgents reportedly fired at least 10 rockets on Frontier Corps check-posts in the Sangsilla, Chamasha and Ghori Pul areas. However, no loss of life or property was reported.

May 31

Four people were killed in landmine blasts in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan province on May 30, Daily Times reported. The blasts occurred in the Habib Rai, Putikh and Jodi areas.

Meanwhile, Baloch insurgents’ leader Mir Alam Khan Bugti claimed on May 30 that two security force personnel were killed and three injured during landmine blasts in the Cengari locality. “Security forces set fire to 26 houses of Bugti tribesmen in the Munjo area,” he added.

Elsewhere in the province, insurgents are reported to have blown Well Number 25 at the main Sui gas plant, suspending gas supply to Sui, Pir Koh and adjacent areas. However, no casualities were reported.

June 1

A bomb exploded near the city branch of the National Bank of Pakistan in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, on May 31. Windowpanes of the bank and nearby buildings were damaged. However, no casualty was reported.

According to Dawn, the Bolan Mail from Karachi escaped a major disaster by a few minutes when saboteurs blew up a section of the rail track near Dera Murad Jamali in the Nasirabad district on May 31. The blast occurred soon after the train had passed the point. Quetta, consequently, remained cut off from the rest of Pakistan for several hours as a result of the attack on the main track linking Quetta with Sindh, Punjab and the North West Frontier Province. Officials told Dawn that high explosives and a timer had been planted under the track.

June 3

Two people were injured in a landmine blast in the Nelakh area of Dera Bugti district in Balochistan province on June 2, according to Daily Times.

Elsewhere in Balochistan, police seized a large quantity of arms from a house on the outskirts of the provincial capital Quetta and arrested a man, identified as Mohammad Azam, who allegedly smuggled the weapons from Afghanistan.

June 4

On June 3, suspected militants blew up two pipelines disrupting gas supply to a gas field and plant at Pir Koh and Pathar Nala in Balochistan, according to Daily Times. Security forces defused two landmines planted along the gas pipelines. Separately, suspected militants blew up two electricity pylons in Barkhan, suspending power supply to Kohlu.

Militants also fired 11 rockets on security check-posts in Sangsela, Chashma, Gori Nala and Kohlu. No loss of life, however, was reported in these incidents.

June 7

Gas supply to vast areas in the country was suspended late on June 6-evening when the main compressor plant at Sui in the Balochistan province was closed after the main pipeline feeding the plant was blown up, according to Dawn. “The plant has been closed temporarily as a precautionary measure,” official sources in Sui said. Sources in the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) said the region to which the supply had been affected stretched from Balochistan to Sindh to Punjab to the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). “Gas supply has been stopped to many industrial units, including fertiliser plants, in Punjab, Sindh and other areas of the country,” the sources said. According to reports, armed insurgents planted a powerful explosive device beneath the pipeline of 20 inches diameter taking gas to the Sui plant from the gas field destroying a large portion of the pipeline on the outskirts of Sui town.

Meanwhile, one person, identified as Younus Baloch, was killed in a bomb blast in the Western Panjgur district of Balochistan province on June 6, according to Daily Times.

Further, the part of a railway track was blown up in the Nothal area of Dera Murad Jamali disrupting train services. “Trains have been stopped as the track has not yet been repaired,” a local journalist told Daily Times. He said that two more bombs had been recovered and defused near the track.

Elsewhere in the province, insurgents fired at least three rockets at a Frontier Corps check-post in the Muach area of Bolan district.

June 8

The Harnai-Sibi railway track in Balochistan province was once again blown up on June 7 by suspected insurgents who used high-power explosive material. However, no loss of life was reported. Provincial officials told The News that some unknown saboteurs had planted powerful explosive material in the Sundhari area and the consequent explosion damaged a large portion of the railway track. Due to successive bomb blasts on the railway track, train service is already under suspension for the last four months on the Sibi-Harnai section. Railway authorities in Sibi said due to security concerns, they could not start the repair work on the track so far.

Meanwhile, the insurgents also fired at least eight rockets at the Frontier Corps check-post in the Sangsela area of Kohlu district and the Kahan area of Dera Bugti district on June 7. However, the rockets missed the target and landed outside the check-post, causing no loss of life or property.

June 10

Eleven people were reportedly injured when a bomb exploded in a restaurant in the industrial town of Hub in Balochistan province on June 9. Police sources said the bomb planted inside the Taj Mahal restaurant in front of the Hub police station exploded at around 5.50pm, according to Dawn.

Meanwhile, suspected insurgents fired 19 rockets on security forces’ check posts in several districts on June 9, including Dera Bugti and Sui. Sources told Daily Times that rockets had also been fired on Frontier Corps (FC) check posts in Pir Koha, Sangsila, Kohlu and Wadh. However, the rockets did not cause any serious damage, they said.

In a separate incident, a railway track was blown up in Snari, disrupting the railway service. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Further, a bomb exploded in front of the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited office in Mustung district, but no one was injured.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), calling himself Azad Baloch, claimed to have killed four Government officials in Kohlu on June 9. However, the incident could not be confirmed through independent sources.

Elsewhere in the province, police arrested 16 suspected insurgents from Sui and Hub. Lasbela District Police Officer Ghulam Haider Baloch told Daily Times that 10 men had been arrested in Sui for their suspected involvement in rocket attacks on military check posts, while six had been detained in Hub for the murder of Station House Officer Hayat Baloch last week.

June 11

The supply of gas to most of Balochistan province was suspended on June 10 after two gas pipelines of the main Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) supplying gas from Sui to Quetta were blown up by a powerful explosion in the Mastung district, Daily Times reported. The explosion occurred at approximately 2.20am on June 9 in the Kalpar area, 30 kilometers from provincial capital Quetta, damaging two gas pipelines and suspending gas supply to the Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Pashin and Ziarat districts. No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion thus far.

June 12

Five unidentified insurgents were reportedly killed and 11 injured when security forces (SFs) retaliated to an attack at Dera Bugti in the Balochistan province on June 11. Balochistan Government spokesperson Raziq Bugti said militants attacked the SFs with heavy rocket and gunfire, but fled when they retaliated, Geo Television reported. “We came to know from their conversation through satellite telephones that five miscreants were killed and 11 injured,” he said.

In another incident, unidentified insurgents attacked a SF vehicle on patrol near the Sui gas plant, injuring an official. Security forces killed one insurgent when they retaliated.

Further, seven rockets were fired at a Frontier Corps (FC) check post on June 11 at Buleda. However, no casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, the Machh Criminal Investigation Department arrested four suspected militants belonging to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on June 11 for alleged involvement in the Machh bomb blasts, Daily Times reported.

June 13

Five people were killed and 17 sustained injuries in a bomb blast at a hotel in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, on June 12, according to Daily Times. An improvised explosive device weighing four kilograms and placed under a bicycle reportedly exploded at Gul Balochistan Hotel on the Sariab Road at 10:35am. Mir Shoaib Nausherwani, the Balochistan Home Minister, blamed the Balochistan Liberation Army for the blast. However, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the Balochistan National Party President, accused intelligence agencies of masterminding the blast in order to defame the Baloch leaders.