QUETTA, Feb 1: Security forces and Bugti tribesmen fought a heavy gun-battle in the Dera Bugti town, officials said on Wednesday. Firing from both sides lasted several hours during which many government and private buildings were damaged, they said.

A man was killed and five others injured in the firing between security forces and tribesmen, which started when a convoy of people was going to to Nasirabad from the Pir Koh gas field.

Official sources said that the fighting, which erupted on Tuesday afternoon, continued till Wednesday evening.

“More than 50 rockets were fired at the FC fort, damaging government buildings and vehicles,” a senior official of the Dera Bugti administration said. A mosque was also damaged.

The building of Dera Bugti police station and a library were destroyed in the exchange of rockets and mortar shells while the official residence of the local DCO was damaged by a rocket.

Reports said that a motor workshop and two FC vehicles were destroyed in the rocket attack.

Official sources had earlier claimed that three ‘miscreants’ had been killed when the FC returned fire, but later the claim was withdrawn.

JWP’s secretary-general Agha Shahid Bugti said that security forces fired rockets and mortar shells on the Dera Bugti town, setting ablaze several shops in the main bazaar.

He did not confirm any casualty in the fight but he said that one person was killed and five others, including a woman and two children, were injured after their convoy came under attack between Pir Koh and Dera Bugti.

Meanwhile, unidentified people blew up a 220KV pylon of the Sibi-Quetta transmission line near Mach.

Rocket attacks were also reported from other areas of Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts.

Sources said FC personnel defused five anti-tank mines in Kahan and Tali areas.