QUETTA: Two pipelines supplying gas to Balochistan and Karachi were blown up by militants in Nasirabad and Suhbatpur districts on Saturday.

The banned Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Unidentified people planted explosives under a pipeline near Notal area of Nasirabad district and blew it up at around 2am, police said.

The pipeline supplied gas to Quetta and other areas of Balochistan from Shikarpur in Sindh.

After the blast, the pipeline caught fire which was extinguished after a battle of several hours. A major part of the pipeline had been damaged by the blast, said an official of the Sui Southern Gas Company.

Police said a remote-controlled device had been used to detonate the explosives.

The incident left Quetta and other towns of Balochistan without gas which is badly needed by people these days to fight freezing temperatures.But SSGC officials claimed that supply to Quetta and other towns remained unaffected because of alternative arrangements.

They said that engineers and technicians had started repair work on the damaged pipeline and added that supply through it was likely to be restored by Sunday afternoon.

In a similar attack, the gas pipeline feeding Karachi from Sui was blown up in Malguzar area of Suhbatpur district.

An SSGC official said Karachi and other parts of Sindh were getting normal supply through other pipelines from gas fields in Sui and Sindh.

Police said repair work would start after security clearance.

Calling from an unspecified place, BRA spokesman Sarbaz Baloch told reporters that members of his organisation had carried out the two attacks.