“A vehicle carrying paramilitary Frontier Corps troops hit a landmine in the restive Sui area of Dera Bugti,” a source told The Express Tribune. In the ensuing explosion three troops were killed and two wounded.
The troops were on a routine patrol in the region when their vehicle hit the landmine planted by tribal militants.
Soon after the incident, security forces rushed to the site to ferry the casualties to a nearby state-run hospital. The dead were identified as Qasim, Shadi Khan and Qudratullah – all low-ranking officers.
The outlawed Baloch Republican Army reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. The group’s spokesperson said that they targeted the vehicle of paramilitary troops.
In other violence, at least 10 people were injured in a grenade attack near a busy restaurant in Quetta on Sunday.
Unknown motorcyclists lobbed a hand grenade at a Paan shop near the busy Mir Hotel on Joint Road in Quetta, police said. In the ensuing blast 10 people were wounded. The attackers fled unchallenged.
The casualties were shifted to the Provincial Sandeman Hospital for treatment where medics said their wounds were not life-threatening.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack which police said they were investigating.
In another incident, tribal insurgents blew up an 8-inch diameter gas pipeline in the Pirkoh area of Dera Bugti on Sunday. As a result, the gas supply from Well No 22 to the Purification Plant has been suspended.
Police said the insurgents had planted an explosive device underneath the pipeline which exploded with a bang.
A contingent of security forces cordoned off the area to allow the engineers to repair the damaged pipeline. They also began searching for the attackers in the area.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2012.
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This organization is directly in contact with US CIA. And it is single handedly responsible for many attacks in Balochistan involving our troops and assets. As more days for NATO stoppage rumble on so will we see the increase in attacks on our troops, civilians, infrastructure and assets. We need to decide whether we can continue with this relationship with US, a country known for its own torture units, torture manuals, support of dictators and fraud involving trillions of dollars.
BRA is a terrorist organization and should be punish with iron hand. The selfish politicians show these terrorist as innocent but they are killing the troops. Akabar Bugti was also a terrorist and state have the full right to eliminate them. There should be no shame in eliminating these terrorist who also terrorize the Baluch peoples
This attack in the new year is a bad omen for Pak security forces who already have their hands full. A political solution in Baluchistan is a better option than injudicial killings which may worsen the situation even more leading to disintegeration of the country for the second time.
Read the following news in AP news site six hours back.
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Iranian security personnel crossed into southwest Pakistan on Sunday, shot to death one man and wounded another in an incident that could cause tension between the two countries, a Pakistani border official said.
Iranian forces took the two men, from the Mazah Sar area of Baluchistan province back across the border, said Mir Zafar Bangulzai.
Pakistani border officials pursued them into Iran, retrieved the two men and brought them back to Pakistan, said Bangulzai. They also detained three Iranian border security personnel, he said.
The incident occurred in a desolate area where the border is not clearly marked.
The man who was killed, Saeed Rigi, and the one who was wounded, his brother, Islam Rigi, were smugglers, said Bangulzai.
Tensions have flared periodically between Pakistan and Iran over Jundullah, an armed Sunni Muslim opposition group that has been fighting the Shiite Iranian government. Tehran has accused the group of operating along the border area in Baluchistan.
EXPRESS TRIBUNE wake up.