QUETTA, Aug 8: Gas supply to parts of Sindh, including Karachi, from the Sui plant was disrupted after a main pipeline was blown up near Sui early Tuesday morning. And reports of heavy fighting between security forces and militants were received from the Daman area of Dera Bugti.

Bugti tribesmen claimed to have captured some security personnel in the Daman area and said that troops had suffered causalities. However, the claims could not be confirmed.

A blast at about 1:30am destroyed a 20-foot-long portion of the pipeline, a security official told Dawn.

Sources said explosives with a timer had been planted under the pipeline in the Goh area, some 7km off the Sui town.

After the explosion, the pipeline caught fire which was brought under control by stopping gas supply from the Sui plant.

“We are facing shortage of 110 MCDF gas in the main distributing system due to the blast near Sui,” the SSGC said, adding that the company had made alternative arrangements to overcome the shortage. They said Karachi and other areas were getting smooth gas supply from an alternative pipeline.

Engineers and other staff have been sent to the site and they have started repairing the pipeline. However, heavy rains in the area are hampering their work and an SSGC official said restoration of full gas supply would take ‘at least 48 hours’.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Bugti tribesmen, claimed that security forces had suffered many casualties in the Daman area fighting.