GWADAR: An administration official and six personnel of the Levies Force were killed and four others suffered injuries in a clash with suspected militants in the Koldan area, 85km off here, on Thursday.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Gwadar Dr Tufail Baloch, Naeem Gichki, Tehsildar of Jiwani, was returning with a contingent of Levies Force from the Mojo area near the Iranian border where he had gone to inspect a disputed piece of land along the coastal highway, whose ownership was claimed by two local men.

In the Koldan area, the two vehicles carrying the team came under fire, leaving the Tehsildar and six personnel of the Levies Force dead and four others injured. However, seven other personnel of the force remained unhurt.

The deceased included Jamadar Ali Jan and sepoys Imam Bukhsh, Obaidullah, Akbar Jamali, Ameer Jan and Naimat Qasim.

The district management took the injured to the District Civil Hospital in Gwadar from where two of them — Risaldar Major Abdullah and sepoy Nizam — were shifted to Karachi because of their critical condition.

Doctors said that the victims had suffered multiple gunshot wounds which caused their death.

Later, the body of Tehsildar Naeem Gichki was sent to his hometown of Turbat. The bodies of the Levies personnel were handed over to relatives.

According to local people, before the killings, about 12 armed men seized a check-post of the Levies Force, took the personnel manning it hostage and kept them in a nearby mosque.

The armed men waited for the vehicles carrying the Tehsildar and the Levies personnel. When the vehicles appeared, the armed men surrounded them and asked the Levies personnel to surrender.

On their refusal, the armed men fired a rocket at one of the vehicles carrying the Tehsildar and Risaldar Major Abdullah.

This led to an exchange of fire that ended in casualties among the government employees. The armed men fled on six motorcycles.

The armed men took away a vehicle and weapons of the Levies personnel. But later they abandoned the vehicle in the Mirjat area.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and mounted a search for the attackers.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016