Two gas pipelines sabotaged in Naseerabad and Jaffarabad. STOCK IMAGE
A Rawalpindi-bound passenger train was bombed in Mastung district on Friday, causing damage to the locomotive but no casualties. Train service to and from Quetta was briefly suspended after the train, Jaffar Express, hit an improvised explosive device (IED) near Dasht Town, 40 kilometres away from Quetta.
Miscreants detonated the IED when the train chugged past, according to an official of the Balochistan Levies. “The locomotive was partially damaged in the explosion, but no one was hurt,” the official told The Express Tribune.
Rescuers and Levies personnel reached the bombsite to assess the damage caused to the track. The railway service to and from Quetta remained suspended for an hour as engineers repaired the track. “Jaffar Express left for Rawalpindi after an hour. Three more passenger trains chugged past the area,” a Pakistan Railways official said.
No group immediately claimed credit for the attack. However, the banned United Baloch Army (UBA) claimed responsibility for most such attacks in the past. Baloch separatist groups have been fighting a low-key insurgency since 2004 which became deadlier following the killing of Jamhoori Watan Party leader Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation in 2006.
Meanwhile, two gas pipelines were sabotaged in Naseerabad and Jaffarabad districts Friday morning disrupting supplies to the Uch Power Plant and dozens of villages in Dera Allahyar. It also caused an increase in electricity shortfall in Balochistan which is already reeling from frequent long-hour outages.
Suspected insurgents triggered an explosive device underneath an 18-inch diameter gas pipeline in the Beron area of Mir Hassan, according to a police official. The blast tore off a sizeable portion of the pipeline, resulting in suspension of gas supply to the Uch Power Plant-II, which together with Uch Power Plant-I, contribute over 900MW of electricity to the national grid. The pipeline was subsequently repaired and supplies restored.
Separately, suspected militants blew up a 4-inch diameter gas pipeline in Jaffarabad district disrupting supplies to dozens of villages in Dera Allahyar and Majipur. The pipeline was repaired after 10 hours. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks – but the banned Baloch Republican Army (BRA) carried out similar attacks in the past.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2015.
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