QUETTA, Feb 17: Three pipelines of Loti and Pir Koh gas fields were blown up on Friday and a driver of the Oil and Gas Development Corporation was seriously injured when a landmine exploded in the same area.

Also on Friday, over 100 rockets were fired in Bakar, Dashat Goran, Gori Nullah and Dera Bugti town targeting crop fields and FC checkposts. Official sources said that traffic remained suspended for several hours on the RCD Highway near Nushki after reports that a powerful bomb had been planted under a bridge.

The bomb disposal staff defused the bomb and traffic on the highway was restored.

According to reports reaching here, a pipeline supplying gas to the Pir Koh gas plant from well No. 24 was blown up.

“Miscreants planted a powerful bomb under the pipeline and blew it up,” Dera Bugti DCO Abdul Samad Lasi said, adding that a landmine planted at well No. 10 stopped engineers and other staff from repairing a pipeline that had been damaged earlier.

“A bomb disposal squad has been sent to Pir Koh for defusing the landmine,” he said, adding that the plant closed earlier in the week could not resume work because of the explosion in the main 16-inch diameter pipeline.

The OGDC driver was injured when a landmine blew up his tanker carrying water for the Pir Koh gas plant.

Two pipelines of the Loti gas field blown up on Friday disrupting gas supply to the plant from wells No. 3 and 10. According to official sources, some people attacked the Loti gas field area and fired a number of rockets which hit the pipelines.

Official sources said that about 70 rockets fired on the Bakar area of Dera Bugti district from Pekal mountains landed and exploded in open fields.

Reports reaching from Pir Koh area said that heavy fighting had erupted between security forces and armed men.