Two gas pipelines blown up in Dera Bugti

QUETTA:

Two gas pipelines were blown up in Balochistan's Dera Bugti district on Monday morning, suspending supplies to the Zain Koh plant, but causing no loss of life, Levies sources said.

The pipeline attack happened a few days after the kidnapping of some football players from the same district.

It occurred the same day a Frontier Corps (FC) soldier was martyred in an improvised explosive device attack in Peshawar.

The Levies sources said that unidentified miscreants targeted the pipelines with IEDs in the Zain Koh area. The Levies and other law enforcement personnel reached the spot and started an investigation.

A senior security official told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that the gas supply from both pipelines to the Zain Koh plant was suspended after the coordinated attacks.

Read At least one FC official martyred in Peshawar blast

Security was heightened in and around Dera Bugti after the attacks, while the law enforcement personnel had launched a search operation for the recovery of the kidnapped football players in the district.

At least five football players were kidnapped in the Sangsila area of Dera Bugti the other day. Since then, the operation was under way for the recovery of the hostages.

Sibi Division Commissioner Bashir Ahmed Bangulzai told The Express Tribune that the kidnapped players had not been recovered so far. However, he said security was tight in the area and the search operation was ongoing.Peshawar blast

In Peshawar, Superintendent of Police Arshad Khan said that an FC vehicle was targeted with an IED in the Warsak Road area. As a result, an FC soldier was martyred, while nine others, including six FC personnel, were injured.

SP Arshad added that initial investigation suggested that five kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack.

He added that some suspects had been detained and were now in police custody for interrogation.

The Rescue 1122 officials later said that at least three civilians were among the injured.

The injured were initially transferred to Prime Hospital but later they were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).

Muhammad Asim, an LRH spokesperson, confirmed that nine blast victims were under treatment at the hospital.

“The injured include six FC personnel and three civilians,” he added.

Earlier, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that 29-year-old Lance Naik Abdur Rehman, who belonged to the Bannu district, was martyred, while six others, including civilians, sustained injuries in an IED explosion on a vehicle of security forces.

“Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate the terrorists and their facilitators,” the ISPR said. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers as well as valiant civilian brethren, further strengthen our resolve.”

Condemnations

Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Warsak Road blast in Peshawar.

He said that the nation could only survive if it got rid of terrorism, appreciating the efforts of the security forces in the fight against terrorism.

Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti said that “cowardly attacks by miscreants cannot demoralise” the armed forces and the nation.

“There is no place for extremists in the country,” he stated, assuring that security forces were determined to eliminate terrorism at all costs.

On Sunday, while speaking at a news conference with Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, Interior Minister Bugti had acknowledged a surge in terrorist activities in the country but urged the people not to “panic”.

“A little surge [in terrorism] is not so big as to make us panic,” he said.

(With input from our Peshawar correspondent)