QUETTA, March 22: Two rockets exploded in different areas of the city on Thursday night while the Quetta-Sibi train link was severed after saboteurs blew up the main railway line near the provincial capital.
The first rocket exploded on the roof of one of the studios of the Quetta station of Radio Pakistan at around 9:20pm.
Minutes later, another rocket hit a house near the Balochistan High Court building on the Ghalib Road. The house belongs to Tahir Mohammad Khan, a former federal minister and chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
A senior official of the Radio Pakistan, Quetta, said that the blast did not affect radio transmissions, adding that all vital equipment and installations were safe.
Rocket shrapnel damaged the boundary wall of the house besides damaging some electric supply lines, leading to sus-
pension of power supply to the area.
It appears that a couple of 107mm rockets were fired from the western side of the provincial capital, a senior police official said. But the exact location could not be located.
Meanwhile, the police said that the railway line had been blown up near Musa Colony in the Sariab area.
A two-foot piece of the railway track was blown up in the blast, police said. Railway authorities said that all rail traffic had been suspended for the time being and all Quetta-bound trains would be stopped at the Sibi railway station.
The damaged railway line was being repaired under heavy security. Railway traffic would be restored soon, railway officials said.
ACCIDENT: An assistant executive engineer and another railway employee were killed when a trolley hit a goods train in Mastung district on Thursday.
Railway authorities said routine checking of the tracks was being carried out by the trolley on the Quetta-Taftan section when the train going towards the provincial capital from Sheikh Wasil area hit it in Spizand area. Assistant Executive Engineer Sultan Ahmed and Trolley Man Archar were killed. Four others sitting on the trolley were injured.
