QUETTA / GWADAR: The building of the Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar has been badly damaged due to overnight explosions and rocket fire during the terrorist attack on Saturday.

“The fourth floor of the hotel has been destroyed as the attackers had planted improvised explosive devices at its entry points and also fired rockets,” security officials said. The ground floor and the other three floors had also been damaged in the encounter between security forces and the attackers, they said.

“The boom of guns and blasts pierced the silence of the night between Saturday and Sunday, persisting till early morning,” Abdul Rahim Baloch, a resident of Gwadar, told Dawn.

Meanwhile, security at the port city has been increased and special arrangements have been made to protect the employees of the Chinese Port Handling Company and others who are working on different projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The security authorities and local administration have deployed more personnel of police, Anti-Terrorist Force, Levies Force and Frontier Corps at various places in Gwadar. Patrolling has also been intensified.

The roads leading to Gwadar port and other important places are still sealed and nobody is allowed to use them.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2019