QUETTA, Dec 22: Three pylons of high-voltage transmission lines were blown up on Thursday disrupting the supply of power of the Kohlu township and several other areas of the tribal district and reports of rocket attacks on Frontier Corps checkposts and bomb blasts were received from different areas of the province.
Official sources confirmed the reports of rocket attacks and bomb explosions in Sibi, Nushki and Harnai and said that paramilitary forces continued their crackdown attacking hideouts and camps of Marri tribesmen in the district of Kohlu.
Helicopter gunships were seen flying over the troubled areas of Kohlu and there were reports of casualties in fighting between security forces and armed tribesmen.
Marri sources reported over 100 casualties but official sources declined to provide any details.
According to official sources, three big towers of the 132-KV Dera Ghazi Khan-Loralai and 33-KV Kohlu-Barkhan transmission lines were blown up by ‘high explosive’.
A senior official of the Barkhan administration said that power supply from the Dera Ghazi Khan-Loralai transmission line remained uninterrupted.
Reports said that six rockets had been fired at two checkposts of Frontier Corps in Fazalchal and close to the border of Barkhan district early in the morning. The rockets exploded in open places, causing no casualty or damage.
Seven rockets were fired at the FC base in Dashat-Guddan area of Turbat district on Thursday evening but none of the rockets hit its target.
Sources said that two bomb explosions took place in Sibi and Nushki areas. In Sibi, the bomb, placed close to the wall of a school went off at around 12:30pm while in Nushki the device was planted near the police station. “Locally-made bombs were used in both the explosions,” official sources told Dawn.
Reports from Harnai said that the small township was rocked by two powerful explosions close to the railway station. Window-panes of the station building were smashed. After the explosion, a rocket landed close to the railway colony damaging walls of some quarters. Two people suffered slight injuries.
Officials said that law-enforcement personnel had arrested five persons from Turbat area and seized illegal arms and ammunition. They were handed over to the officials concerned for interrogation.
A spokesman of the Anjuman Ittehad Marri claimed that the situation was worsening in the Marri area as helicopter gunships and planes were bombing different areas and the entire district had been sealed off by paramilitary forces and regular army.
