QUETTA, May 1: Saboteurs on Monday blew up a railway track linking Pakistan with Iran and a bridge between Kohlu and Kahan, officials said here.

Six home-made bombs of high-intensity were planted at the Quetta-Zahidan section of a railway track, some 14 kilometres away from Noshki.

“A 5-foot long portion of the track was destroyed when two bombs exploded in the wee hours,” railway officials told Dawn. The other four bombs planted at the site were later defused by the concerned officials.

Rail traffic between Quetta and Zahidan remained suspended following the incident. A passenger train could not leave Quetta for the Iranian border town of Zahidan on Monday and freight train services were also suspended.

Officials said that train services at the Quetta-Zahidan section were likely to be restored within 24 hours as railway engineers and other staff had already started repairing the damaged track.

Saboteurs also blew up a 15-foot long bridge on the Kohlu-Kahan road on Monday morning. Officials said that an explosive device had been planted with a timer under the bridge. The bombing forced suspension of road transport between Kohlu and Kahan.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the incidents.

FIGHTING: Fierce fighting was reported between security forces and armed Bugti tribesmen in Sangsilla area of Dera Bugti after FC vehicles after a check-post came under attack.

Officials said two FC soldiers were seriously wounded in a rocket attack. “The armed men attacked the FC vehicles and check-post late on Sunday night,” they said. The injured men were rushed to Sui hospital for treatment.

Security forces mounted an offensive in retaliation for the attack.

Other sources close to Bugti tribesmen said that security forces suffered human losses in the fighting. “Several FC personnel were killed and injured in the fighting,” said Alam Khan Bugti.

Meanwhile two personswere seriously injured in the Mat Khetran area of Dera Bugti in an anti-personnel landmine explosion.