QUETTA/DERA MURAD JAMALI: Quetta and some other parts of Balochistan plunged into darkness on Saturday as militants blew up two pylons of high transmission power line.

Besides, the capital city of the province remained cut off from the rest of the country through rail link for several hours after insurgents blew up the main track between Sibi and Dera Murad Jamali.

Two pylons of 220KV transmission line, supplying electricity to Quetta and other areas of Balochistan from Guddu Power Plant, were blown up by militants in Chattar area of Naseerabad district.

Read: Railway track blown up in Balochistan's Sibi

This disrupted supply to different areas of Quetta and other districts.

Police said militants placed explosives with a time device at pylons No 435 and 436 and detonated it.

An official of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company said supply had been restored through alternative arrangements.

Repair of the destroyed power pylons could not start on Saturday due to security concerns. It will be launched after security clearance, according to sources.

It was the fourth incident of blowing up pylons of high-power transmission lines in Chattar and other areas of Naseerabad and Sibi districts over the past three weeks.

One of such incidents plunged 28 of the 32 districts of Balochistan into darkness, besides creating a country-wide severe power crisis.

RAIL TRACK DAMAGED: According to officials of Levies Force, armed men planted an explosive device at the rail track near Damboli area in Naseerabad district and detonated it with remote control.

“A portion of the track smashed into pieces by the powerful explosion,” they said, adding that no train was passing through the area when the blast took place.

Personnel of the Frontier Corps and Levies Force rushed to the site along with railway engineers and other staff, who took about four hours to repair the damaged track.

In the meantime, train service to and from Quetta remained suspended.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play