QUETTA, March 19: The chief of the Jamhoori Watan Party, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, has said that a blockade of Dera Bugti by the Frontier Corps had caused a shortage of food items and other essential commodities in the township. Talking to newsmen from Dera Bugti by satellite phone on Saturday, he denied having issued any ultimatum to the government employees to leave Dera Bugti and termed it a disinformation by the government. He said food stocks had exhausted and fresh supplies could not reach Dera Bugti due to the blockade by the Frontier Corps. The veteran Baloch leader said helicopters and army planes were frequently flying over Dera Bugti. In reply to a question, he said more army troops were reaching Sui from Kashmor and added that 70 army vehicles had arrived in Sui with 15 long-range cannons. He said 13 such cannons and 18 tanks were already deployed in Sui. Nawab Bugti said the government had banned movement of people as no one was being allowed to enter Dera Bugti. The information secretary of the JWP, Senator Amanullah Kanrani, and Sardar Behram Khan Buledi, who had arrived in Sui on Saturday, were not allowed to enter Dera Bugti, he said. Answering a question, he said 60 people were killed in the shelling by the FC personnel on Thursday and another person succumbed to injuries on Saturday. He said 32 of the victims belonged to the Hindu community, including women and children, and added that their bodies were cremated on Friday night.

The JWP chief said that video films of the incident had been made that would be shown to the world.

He regretted that members of the special committee of parliament were not allowed to visit Dera Bugti to have a first-hand account of what had happened in the township.

He said the injured were not allowed to travel to Quetta for treatment and sent back from Machh. He said those who reached Quetta had been taken into custody.