17 February 2005	Thursday	07 Muharram 1426

QUETTA, Feb 16: Saboteurs fired rockets and blew up two high-tension towers of a 132 KV transmission line in Barkhan area of Balochistan, close to the border with Punjab in a rocket attack early on Wednesday morning.

The entire area of Barkhan and Kohlu districts plunged into darkness as power supply was disrupted, a spokesman of the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (Qesco) said.

According to sources, four rockets were fired at around 1.30 am targeting the huge towers of the transmission line coming from Dera Ghazi Khan in the Esani area, some 25 km off Barkhan. Two towers were blown up.

"There is no power supply from 132 KV transmission line from Barkhan to Kohlu area," Qesco sources said, adding that teams of Wapda engineers had been sent to the area for repairing the damaged towers. However, he said that complete restoration of power supply in the affected area would take at least a week.

Meanwhile, power supply from the 220 KV double-circuit Guddu-Sibi transmission line has been fully restored after two high-tension towers were replaced and two others, in Chetar area of Nasirabad district, repaired. The towers had been blown up on January 29 causing disruption of electricity supply to almost two-thirds of Balochistan.

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