QUETTA, Feb 2: At least six people were injured on the third day of a gun-battle between paramilitary forces and Bugti tribesmen in the Dera Bugti town. Rocket attacks on Frontier Corps bases and checkpoints were reported from Loti, Kohlu and Nal areas and landmines were found and defused in other areas.
All roads leading to Dera Bugti remained closed because of the gun-battle and landmines. People still inside the town were reported to be facing shortage of food and other items of daily use.
Sources said buildings and shops in the town were hit as tribesmen and security forces continued to target each other’s position with rockets and mortar shells on Wednesday night.
A number of shops and houses were gutted in the Bugti bazaar.
Sources said that the FC launched a fresh attack on tribesmen’s positions at around 11am on Thursday. They used rockets, mortar shells and other heavy weapons in the attack, they said.
“Security forces have sealed all roads connecting the Dera Bugti town to Sui and other areas,” they claimed.
The sources said that a number of people wanted to leave the troubled area but they were stranded in the town and villages.
Official sources accused Bugti tribesmen of planting several landmines on the Sui-Dera Bugti and Sangsilla-Lahri roads. “There is no traffic on the Singsilla-Dera Bugti and Lehri roads because of landmines and armed tribesmen,” Abdul Samad Lasi, DCO of Dera Bugti, said.
He confirmed that some shops in the Bugti bazaar had been gutted but accused the Bugti tribesmen of looting and burning the shops.
“People want to come back to Dera Bugti for wheat harvest but they cannot find a safe passage to reach their respective areas,” Mr Lasi said.
According to reports reaching here, around 31 rockets were fired on the Loti gas field but no loss of life or damage to property was reported. The attackers escaped after paramilitary forces returned fire.
The sources said that water supply to the Pir Koh gas plant and adjoining residential area could not be restored as armed men did not allow the staff and engineers concerned to repair the damaged pipeline.
They said tribesmen had planted landmines in the area and were also firing rockets and mortar shells on security forces and OGDC personnel repairing the water pipeline. Rockets were also fired on an FC checkpost in the Nal area of the Kohlu district.
Provincial Home Minister Mir Mohammad Shoaib Nausherwani said here that some people planted a large number of landmines on Singsilla, Pir Koh and Baker roads linking Kohlu and Dera Bugti.
