January 28, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 27, 1426

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QUETTA, Jan 27: Tension mounted in the town of Sui on Friday after security forces removed hunger strike camps set up by PPL employees and evicted protesters from a nearby dispensary.

With a lull in fighting in Dera Bugti and Kohlu on Friday for the second time in a week, the scene of battle appeared to have shifted to Sui.

Security forces removed at least five camps of striking PPL employees in Sui and evicted the protesters who had occupied a dispensary in front of the gas plant, according to the district coordination officer.

The DCO said the dispensary was later handed over to the PPL authorities.

Security forces defused three landmines that had been planted near the Pirkoh gas field. Once the areas around Pirkoh were cleared of mines, the DCO said, repair work put begin on the damaged water pipelines to the gas plant and town.

A spokesman for the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) condemned the action of the security forces and said that despite provocation, the striking employees and qualified unemployed youth had not created any law and order problem in Sui and had only demanded their rights.

He said the main grievance of the Bugti tribe’s qualified youth against the company was that it had reneged on an agreement to provide jobs to local people and had instead employed outsiders in Sui.

Reports from Kohlu said that there were no incidents of firing between security forces and tribesmen in Kahan areas till the evening.

RALLY: Activists of nationalist parties and Baloch Students Organization (United) staged a rally in Khuzdar to protest against the military operation in Dera Bugti and Kohlu.

Workers of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Jamhoori Watan Party, Baloch National Movement and BSO-U marched through the streets and chanted slogans against the government and the ongoing operation.

In their speeches the political activists said that the present operation — allegedly the fifth military offensive in the province over the last five decades — was nothing but a crude attempt to capture Baloch resources.

In the past, they said, oppressors had been unsuccessful in their efforts to undermine the legitimate struggle of the Baloch people and maintained that this time too the Baloch spirit would shame the attackers.

They added that Baloch political parties and student groups had decided not to compromise with the rulers on the issue of rights and vowed to continue the struggle to achieve their goals.