QUETTA: Gas supply to the provincial capital and several towns in northern Balochistan was disrupted on Wednesday after militants blew up a main gas pipeline of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on the outskirts of Quetta, leaving residents struggling amid freezing temperatures.

Officials said unidentified militants planted explosives under the 18-inch-diameter pipeline in the Akhtarabad area along the western bypass and detonated them, causing a massive explosion. The blast triggered a fire in the pipeline, resulting in the suspension of gas supply to Quetta and surrounding areas.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.

“A big portion of the gas pipeline was destroyed in the blast,” an SSGC spok­e­s­person confirmed. The da­m­aged pipeline has cau­sed widespread outages in northern Balochistan.

BLA claims attack; repair work expected to begin today

SSGC spokesperson Safdar Hussain said the explosion was an act of sabotage carried out by unknown miscreants. “The pipeline was severely damaged, cutting off gas supplies to upper Balo­chistan and Quetta city,” he said.

SSGC technical teams rushed to the site and extinguished the fire by turning off the main valve. Repair work is expected to begin on this (Thursday) morning after security clearance from law enforcement agencies.

The official estimated that it would take around 12 hours to repair the damaged eight-foot section of the pipeline.

The incident disrupted gas supply to several areas, including Pishin, Kuchlak, Ziarat, Bostan, Yaro, Karbala and Haranzai, as well as several neighbourhoods in Quetta, such as Airport Road, Nawa Killi, Jinnah Town, Khan Zai, A-One City and Hazar Ganji.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2024