QUETTA, April 21: Saboteurs on Friday blew up a big railway bridge on the Sibi-Harnai section and destroyed a gas pipeline in Pir Koh. Official sources said armed men had planted powerful bombs under the bridge No 5 in Babar-Kach area and blew it up in the early hours. “The 150-foot-long bridge was completely destroyed,” a senior official of Sibi administration said.

It was the second large bridge on Sibi-Harnai section which had been blown up during the last one week. Another 150-foot-long bridge exploded last week in Tandori area of the same section.

The train service on the Sibi-Harnai section was suspended last month after frequent armed attacks on railway tracks and repair personnel.

A pipeline supplying gas to the Pir Koh gas plant from the gasfield was blown up in Mir Hasan area. “It was an 18-inch diameter pipeline supplying gas from wells to the plant,” official sources said and added that the gas supply to Pir Koh gas plant had been suspended after the explosion.

Meanwhile, armed tribesmen fired many rockets at a check post of Frontier Corps in Dera Bugti area on Friday. However, no damage was reported.

Sources said that firing was also reported in Karmo-Wadh area of Kahan where a levies solider was seriously injured when a landmine exploded while defusing it.

INQUIRY: The two-member committee of Balochistan Assembly headed by opposition leader Kachkol Ali visited various areas in Jaffarabad and Nasirabad to inquire the condition of displaced people taken refuge in these districts due to fighting in and around Dera Bugti.