Six Levies men killed in Gwadar attack

The vehicle they were travelling in was blown up by a rocket fire

QUETTA: At least seven persons – including six personnel of Levies force and a revenue official – were killed and three others injured in a firing incident in a coastal district in Balochistan on Thursday.

Gwadar Deputy Commissioner Dr Tufail Baloch told The Express Tribune that the incident took place when militants targeted the vehicle of Balochistan Levies (a paramilitary force) at Kuldaan area in Suntsar tehsil of Gwadar district.

Security forces and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and injured to the district hospital of Gwadar.

The deputy commissioner said the gunmen armed with automatic guns ambushed the vehicle of the security personnel at around 6pm, adding that Tehsildar Jiwani and Risaldar Major were also sitting in the vehicle. The area is close to the Iranian border.

According to the local people, the vehicle was blown up by a rocket fired by the militants after the driver did not heed the militants call to stop.

“Seven people, including six personnel of Balochistan Levies and Jiwani tehsildar were killed and three others were injured,” the deputy commissioner Gwadar said. Baloch said that the vehicle was attacked when the security personnel were coming back after attending a grand meeting of local elders over a land dispute at an area bordering Iran.



The deceased were identified as Tehsildar Naeem Gichki, sepoy Ali Jan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Imran, Ubaidullah and Akbar and injured as Risaldar Major Abdullah, sepoy Nizam and Dawood.

The Balochistan chief minster condemned the attack and directed law-enforcement agencies to ensure immediate arrest of the attackers. He also sought a report on the incident.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

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Eight terrorists were arrested in an intelligence-based operation and a separate combing operation conducted on Thursday in Chaman on Pakistan-Afghan border.

A huge cache of arms and ammunition including explosives, prepared improvised explosives devices (IED), rockets and detonators have been recovered during the operations, an ISPR release said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2016.