03 August 2004	Tuesday	16 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

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QUETTA, Aug 2: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mohammed Yousuf escaped unhurt but an official escorting him was killed and two others were wounded when armed assailants attacked his motorcade near the Anjeri Cross, some 230km from here, on Monday.

The chief minister was returning to the provincial capital from Khuzdar after attending a meeting held in connection with the Sunday incident in which six people were killed.

When his convoy reached the Anjeri Cross in Sohrab area, the unidentified assailants opened fire at the pilot escort jeep, killing Musa Jan of the Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF). Two ATF employees were injured.

However, a provincial government spokesman and Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed denied that the chief minister was the target of the attack. In a handout issued late on Monday night, the spokesman for the provincial government said that the ATF vehicle had come under fire of Levies (a paramilitary force) men 'due to a misunderstanding'.

The spokesman said that the ATF vehicle was on routine patrolling and the Levies personnel fired on it when it was passing through Anjeri. He said one ATF personnel was killed and two others were injured, adding that investigation was in progress.

In another official handout, some provincial ministers as well as the ex-chief minister Mir Jan Mohammed Jamali condemned the attack 'on the convoy of the chief minister'.

They said the attack on the chief minister's convoy was an act of cowardice that was tantamount to attacking the whole Baloch nation as Jam Yousuf's family had no enmity with any tribe. They also expressed condolences with the family of the ATF official who was killed in the attack.

APP ADDS: Federal Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed late Monday night denied that the chief minister had come under attack. He said that the news about the alleged attack on the chief minister was a 'result of baseless information'.

There was absolutely no attack made on the chief minister and he had reached his home in Kalat safely, he added. The minister said he had a telephonic conversation with the chief minister who was safe and sound at his home.

Explaining the incident, Sheikh Rashid said there was a 'misunderstanding' between three persons going on a motorcycle and the police squad at the tail-end of the chief minister's convoy which resulted in an exchange of fire.

He said one person was killed and two others were wounded in the shootout. He said the chief minister had already reached Kalat when the incident took place.