Dera Bugti attack: Pro-govt tribal elder, six others slain

No groups claims responsibility, officials blame Baloch militants.

QUETTA:

Armed men barged into a tribal elder’s home on Tuesday and killed seven people, including two women and three children, in Haftah Wali near Loti gas field in Dera Bugti.

“Local tribal notable Duda Khan Bugti alias Thara Khan, two women, three children and a man were killed, while a woman sustained serious injuries in the attack,” Dera Bugti Deputy Commissioner Abdul Jabbar Jatoi told The Express Tribune, adding that the attack took place around 3 am.

“Thara Khan was a pro-government tribal elder and belonged to the Chandrazai tribe, a sub clan of the Bugti tribe,” a source said. Anti-government groups could be responsible for these killings, he said.

However, the deputy commissioner said it was premature to say who was responsible as investigations are under way.



“I cannot say whether the slain tribal elder was pro-government or whether militants were behind the attack until investigators collect enough evidence,” he told The Express Tribune.

Dera Bugti is one of the most troubled areas of Balochistan where Baloch insurgents have repeatedly targeted security forces, pro-government groups and gas pipelines.

The rival groups have been targeting each other since 2006 when Akbar Bugti was assassinated along with 30 other comrades during a military operation ordered by then president Pervez Musharaf.

Two slain in Quetta

Two persons were also killed on Tuesday in separate incidents in Quetta. The first incident took place at Double Road where armed men opened fire at a shop and then fled from the scene. Separately, assailants gunned down a man at Sariyab Road.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2013.