Unrest in Balochistan: Four killed as saboteurs target infrastructure

Father, son gunned down in Hub, two bodies recovered.

QUETTA: Four people, including a man and his son, were shot dead in two separate incidents of firing in the industrial towns of Hub and Kalat on Sunday – a day when two bodies were also found elsewhere in the restive Balochistan province.

Gunmen killed two people in the Dasht-e-Goran area of Kalat, police said and identified the dead as Allah Baksh and Abdul Wahid.

The bodies were shifted to a hospital for autopsy. Police said that investigation was under way and cited personal enmity as a possible reason for the double murders.

In another incident, a man and his son were gunned down in Hub Town.

Police said Ghulam Muhammad and his son Muhammad Zahid were shot dead by two armed men, who were riding on a motorbike. The motive behind the killings is yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, the Balochistan Levies Force found bullet-riddled bodies dumped in separate areas near Quetta. The victims appeared to be young men – however, their identities have not been ascertained yet.

Separately, a railway track and a gas pipeline were blown up in separate incidents of sabotage in Naushki and Dera Bugti areas.

A gas pipeline measuring 16 inches in diameter was blown up by suspected saboteurs in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti. The explosion resulted in the suspension of gas supply to a water purification plant.

Law enforcers cordoned off the area to allow engineers to repair the damaged pipeline.

The banned Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the attack. Its spokesman, who identified himself as Sarbaz Baloch, said his organisation had targeted the pipeline.

In the other incident, a three-foot portion of a railway track was destroyed when a bomb went off about 20km from Nushki Town, the Balochistan Levies said.

The blast resulted in the suspension of rail service from Quetta to Zahedan, but no casualties were reported.

A heavy contingent of the Levies Force reached the spot soon after the blast and cordoned off the area.

Officials say the explosives were planted near a railway bridge, but only the track was destroyed while the bridge remained intact. No one as yet has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2012.