QUETTA, April 13: Frontier Corps personnel and Bugti tribesmen reopened on Wednesday the road between Sui and Dera Bugti after both sides removed pickets that had been set up following bloody clashes on March 17. “Yes, the Bugti tribesmen have removed the pickets from the road between Dera Bugti and Sui. The FC also has dismantled the trenches. This is the first positive step to resolve the issue,” JWP’s secretary-general Agha Shahid Hasan Bugti confirmed to Dawn.

He said that Sher Ali Mazari, who was mediating between the government and Nawab Akbar Bugti, arrived in Sui on Tuesday night. He discussed the issue of removal of pickets with FC officials and had a meeting with the JWP chief on Wednesday morning. After the meetings both sides started dismantling the trenches at about 9am.

Frontier Corps sources in Dera Bugti also confirmed the reopening of the Dera Bugti-Sui Road.

Agha Shahid Bugti said that the people of the area were happy over the reopening of the road after 26 days and hoped that the problems the people had been facing because of the road’s closure would be solved.

He stated that although the removal of pickets was a positive step, the tribesmen would not be satisfied till an independent commission conducted a probe to ascertain the causes of the March 17 attack in which 70 precious lives were lost.

He referred to a list of 15 important people presented by his party to the government to select three from them and form the investigation commission to pinpoint the culprits who were behind the incident.

When asked if PML leaders Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain would visit Dera Bugti again, he replied in the affirmative and said that the dismantling of trenches was a step to restore trust which would help the two sides to settle other important issues.