QUETTA, Jan 20: Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) leaders on Thursday alleged that regular troops and tanks had entered Sui and Dera Bugti early in the morning and telephones exchanges in the area had gone out of order.

Addressing a press conference here, former deputy chairman of the Senate and JWP's senior vice-president Mir Abdul Jabber and party's provincial president Mir Humayun Marri condemned the government for using force in political matters.

They claimed that regular troops and 16 tanks had moved into Sui and Dera Bugti area from Kashmore, Sindh. They said that deployment of troops a day before Eidul Azha had some specific objective that the rulers wanted to achieve during the holidays.

The JWP leaders said that they were facing difficulty in getting information about the actual situation of Sui and Dera Bugti as the telephone system of the district had not been working since Wednesday night.

Senator Sanaullah Baloch, a leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, who was present on the occasion, warned that the army operation against the Bugti tribesmen would not remain confined to that area as the action would be treated as an attack on the entire Baloch nation.

He pointed out that two days back an All Parties' Conference at Quetta had unanimously adopted a declaration condemning military intervention in political matters and had termed it a dangerous step that would harm the integrity of the country.

He said that rulers were violating international norms and constitutional and human rights by invading Dera Bugti. He maintained that Baloch would be on the back of the Bugti tribesmen to protect the rights of the province.

He cautioned the government against confronting with federating units and said it would push the country into grave political crisis. Meanwhile, Balochistan Home Minister Mir Shoaib Nausherwani said that the Frontier Corps had started a search of 'those houses' in Sui from where rockets had been fired on gas installations.

Talking to Dawn on Thursday, the home minister said that army regulars had been deployed to protect the gas installations but they were not involved in the search operation. He declared that no military operation would be launched in Dera Bugti.

Mir Nausherwani clarified that no house-to-house search had been carried out in Sui and added that only some houses that had been used for firing of rockets on gas installations were searched. He said that entrenches and fortifications in Sui had also been demolished.

AFP ADDS: Dozens of tribesmen, including the son of Nawab Akbar Bugti, have been arrested in connection with rocket attacks on the Sui gas field, police and government officials said on Thursday.