QUETTA: Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti, the chief of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), died here on Monday after a heart attack.

He was 63.

Talal Bugti was a son of former governor and chief minister of Balochistan the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.

According to family sources, Talal Bugti complained of having difficulty in breathing early in the morning. He was taken to the Combined Military Hospital. He was admitted because he had long been an asthma patient.

During treatment he suffered a severe heart attack which proved to be fatal.

Earlier, on coming to know about Mr Bugti’s serious condition, Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Chief Secretary Saifullah Chattah and Principal Secretary to CM Nasim Legri went to the hospital.

Talal Bugti’s sons, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti and Mir Gohram Bugti, who were in Islamabad, left for Quetta by road because Quetta-bound flights had been cancelled due to bad weather.

A large number of people gathered at the Bugti House after hearing about the death of Mr Bugti.

Family sources said the body would be taken to Dera Bugti by helicopter where he would be buried on Tuesday in the family graveyard.

Talal Bugti had taken over the leadership of the JWP after his father was killed in a military action in 2006.

Later his nephew Nawab Aali Bugti developed differences with him and formed his own faction. This led to a split in the party.

Talal Bugti was quite active in politics and reportedly on good terms with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

A day before his death, Talal Bugti had hosted a launch on Sunday for media personnel at his residence.

He talked about the overall political situation in the country, particularly in Balochistan. He suggested that a tribal jirga should be formed to approach angry Baloch leaders for resolving the issues of Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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