Balochistan: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2005

According to Daily Times, a bomb blast occurred near a Frontier Corps (FC) camp in Turbat, Balochistan province, on January 2. However, no casualty was reported. Official sources said the explosion could have been caused by a remote control device placed at construction shops near the FC camp. Meanwhile, an individual, identifying himself as Azad Baloch, claimed that the Baloch Liberation Army and Baloch Liberation Front carried out the blast and that there were about 12 casualties. Read less...

According to Daily Times, a bomb exploded and three rockets were fired targeting sites in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, while two bombs exploded in Kalat on January 3. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. The rockets were fired at a highway police checkpoint in suburban Quetta near Hazaar Ganji at about 11:00pm (PST). Earlier, a bomb exploded behind the Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education building in Quetta at about 8:00pm. Meanwhile, two bombs exploded in Kalat between 8:00pm and 9:00pm near a Frontier Corps camp and the district coordination officer’s office. Capital City Police Officer, Pervez Rafi Bhatti, said the attacks were in reaction to the 15 arrests made in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan after the Meezan Chowk bomb attack last month in which 11 people died. Read less...

A personnel of the Frontiers Corps was reportedly killed and nine others sustained injuries during a shoot-out on January 7-night between paramilitary troops and unidentified assailants at Sui in the Balochistan province. Read less...

Unidentified people are reported to have blown up a gas pipeline in the Sui area of Balochistan province on January 7 and also exchanged fire with the security force personnel in the same area. The Baloch Liberation Front has claimed the attack, saying it was in reaction to the gang-rape of a female doctor in Sui. Police said a gas pipeline was destroyed after a rocket hit it and heavy gunfire was heard later, reported Daily Times. Read less...

Another gas pipeline was reportedly blown up when heavy firing resumed in the Sui area on January 8, suspending supply to the Guddu Thermal Power Station. Earlier, a gas pipeline was also destroyed in an attack and gas supply was suspended to southern Sindh till January 8-morning. Sources in Quetta said the pipeline was attacked in retaliation for the alleged gang-rape of a female doctor in Sui. Azad Baloch, member of the Baloch Liberation Front, claimed responsibility for the January 8 attack. Read less...

Unidentified people blew up a gas pipeline again at Sui gas field in the Balochistan province on January 9, killing six people, including two Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel, and injuring 11 others. According to Daily Times, several men attacked the gas field with mortars, rockets and machine guns, which lasted for more than six hours. A 36-inch diameter pipe supplying gas to the Punjab and Sindh provinces was reportedly destroyed in the attack and gas supply to Multan, Faisalabad, Muzaffarabad and other cities was suspended. Some rockets and mortars missed their target and hit the runway at Sui Airport, damaging it considerably. Two rockets also hit the Sui telephone exchange, suspending communication between Sui and Dera Bugti. Read less...

According to Daily Times, two more people died in continued rocket attacks by unidentified people on a gas installation in the Sui area of Balochistan province on January 10. Security force personnel reportedly exchanged fire with the attackers from January 9-night until early on January 10 at Sui, said local administrator Muhammad Akbar. "A woman was killed when a rocket hit her house, while a shopkeeper was killed at a market when bullets fired by the attackers hit him," Akbar added. He said two others were injured in the gunfight, while dozens of homes and private cars were damaged when several rockets hit the gas facility. Read less...

Three brothers were killed and their parents’ sustained injuries when an explosive device went off in their home in the Drengar area of Mastung district in Balochistan province on January 10. According to Dawn, the brothers had found a small box, which they brought to their home and while checking the same, an explosion occurred killing them on the spot. Read less...

10 hostages held by tribesmen in Balochistan were freed by security forces, the Balochistan home minister said. They were abducted on January 11 from the Sui gas fields after several days of clashes between security forces and tribesmen. Read less...

A spokesperson for the hitherto unknown Balochistan Liberation Force has claimed responsibility for the recent clashes, which began last week after a female Doctor was allegedly gang-raped by three men at a hospital owned by a state-run gas company. Read less...

At least two Defence Services Guard (DSG) personnel were killed and five others sustained injuries as unidentified people attacked the Sui gas field in Balochistan province on January 11. According to Statesman, few miscreants stormed Gate Number 5 and overpowered the DSG personnel manning the gate, killing one and injuring another. Meanwhile, more miscreants assembled outside the Sui installations as civilians attacked Watch Towers Number 10 & 11 and took their control from the DSG. The miscreants later reportedly targeted the Acid Pipeline, Gas Purification Plant and residences of the workers housing their families. Subsequently, Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were moved in to restore order. The area is currently under the FC control. Authorities have also temporarily closed the gas supply in order to avert more damage. Read less...

President Pervez Musharraf on January 11 asked the nationalist elements in Balochistan to desist from subversive activities in the province. "This is not the era of 1970s, when you can hit and run and hide in mountains… I warn them to stop targeting [Gas fields]," he told a private TV channel. Gen. Musharraf said the Government is keeping an eye on the activities of these so-called "nationalist or sub-nationalist" elements. Read less...

Interior Minister, Aftab Sherpao, said in Islamabad on January 12 that the Federal Government would take necessary punitive action, including military action, against the renegade tribesmen who attacked gas plants at Sui in the Balochistan province. According to Daily Times, the Balochistan Government has been asked to review the situation and recommend to the Federal Government the action required to normalise the situation in the province, Sherpao said at a press conference. He disclosed that three officials of the Frontier Constabulary and four civilians had been killed and nine injured in the latest round of violence between security force personnel and miscreants. He did not say how many tribesmen had been killed or injured. Sherpao added that security agencies had seized 14,000 bullets, 425 rocket launchers and 60 multi-barrel guns which were fired from a Bugti colony and a Muhammadi colony near Sui. Read less...

Senior Baloch leader and Jamhoori Watan Party chief, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, has expressed fears that a military operation in Sui and the Bugti areas may soon be launched. Talking to the media in Dera Bugti on January 12, he claimed that a convoy of 3,000 troops had left Quetta, Pannu Aqil and Kashmor for Sui and Dera Bugti along with artillery, while six gunship helicopters had already landed at the Sibi helipad. "In the next couple of days an operation would be launched in the area," he said and added that the area was already under siege as 6,500-10,000 Frontier Corps personnel were already present in the Bugti area, while 3,000 to 4,000 Rangers had set up their camp outside the Bugti area at the Sindh-Punjab border. Read less...

The Balochistan Government on January 14 formally sought the Federal Government's assistance to ensure security of natural gas installations in the Sui area. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the provincial cabinet held in the capital Quetta with Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf in the chair, according to Dawn. Later, briefing the media, Home Minister Mir Shoaib Nausherwani said the decision had been taken in view of the situation in the Sui area which witnessed heavy clashes between security forces’ and armed men for five days. He also said the provincial Government had asked the Federal Government to desist from launching any military operation. Read less...

The opposition alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), held protest demonstrations on January 14 in different cities as part of its anti-uniform campaign and demanded that President Pervez Musharraf should step down as president and army chief. Speaking in Islamabad, Deputy Parliamentary leader of the MMA, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, said that by violating the constitutional provisions and keeping two offices with him, Gen. Musharraf had become a controversial man and now he must quit both the offices. According to Dawn, protest rallies were also organised in Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar. Read less...

Daily Times reports that unidentified assailants fired six rockets at a checkpoint of paramilitary forces in Kohlu district, located some 160 kilometres north of Sui, on January 15. However, no casualties were reported in the incident. Frontier Corps (FC) personnel retaliated when their position came under attack from rockets fired from the hills of Jandran, but the assailants managed to escape. Read less...

Muttahida Qaumi Movement's founder Altaf Hussain has stated that the MQM will quit the government if an army operation is launched in Balochistan. He said in an interview with a private TV channel that any extreme step taken in this regard would not be beneficial for the country and the nation. Read less...

Reports added that in the Bugti area thousands of armed tribesmen had reached and established trenches and posts in the whole area to protect the Bugti House.Reports also suggested hectic military movement and reinforcement heading towards Sui area from Kashmore. Read less...

The News reports that law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) continued their search operation in Sui town to arrest those involved in shelling and firing on the gas installations from the hilly areas. Commandos took part in the operation, in which armoured vehicles were also used. Area sources said the LEAs personnel had encircled the whole area and everyone seen moving was being thoroughly frisked. Supply of gas and water also remained suspended in the town, but power supply continued with frequent interruptions. Read less...

The Frontier Corps (FC) personnel are reported to have secured the Sui gas field in Balochistan province and set up pickets in the area, official sources told Daily Times on January 16. Tribesmen angry at the alleged gang rape of a female doctor had attacked the Sui gas installations with rockets over five days last week. At least eight people were killed and 35 injured during clashes with the security forces’. Lt. Gen. Hamid Rab Nawaz, the Quetta Corps Commander, visited Sui on January 16 and met with officers of the FC, Defence Security Guards and civil officers. Read less...

Chief Minister Jam Yousaf said on January 17 that paramilitary forces in Balochistan had identified about 100 homes from where they believe tribesmen fired rockets between January 7 and 11 at Sui installations. "Now, those homes are the focus of search," he said. Read less...

Daily Times reports that two small homemade bombs exploded in a bazaar in Gwadar on January 17. However, no casualties were reported in the blasts. Mir Azad Baloch, spokesman of the Balochistan National Army, claimed responsibility for the explosions in a telephone call to the Quetta Press Club and threatened more bombings if the government launches a military operation. Both bombs were planted in garbage bins in a street in Gwadar, said Shakil Durrani, a senior police official. Read less...

Daily Times reports that unidentified persons fired atleast six rockets at a Frontier Corps (FC) camp near Mach in Balochistan on January 17. However, there were no immediate reports of casualties. Read less...

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who chaired the cabinet meeting, assured that the federal government would use all its resources to protect the national assets, as the government could not afford to expose these vital installations to danger. The governor and the chief minister of Balochistan also attended the cabinet meeting. "Both the top level meetings resolved to protect Sui installations, and any effort to sabotage gas supply from it (the gasfield) will be foiled," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told newsmen at a briefing on the cabinet meeting Read less...

Reuters reports that armed tribesmen from rural Balochistan have begun converging on Dera Bugti, about 50 km north of Sui, to support the nationalist cause. Tribesmen have taken positions in bunkers on hilltops surrounding Dera Bugti, while government troops dug in bunkers around Sui. Read less...

The Federal cabinet on January 17 endorsed the provincial request of safeguarding Sui gasfields and decided to utilise all its resources for the protection of vital installations in Balochistan with uninterrupted gas supply from Sui. A similar resolve was expressed in a meeting of the ruling coalition parties, chaired by President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. The meeting was held after the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister House. Read less...

The News has reported that a special session of the Federal Cabinet on January 17, today, would focus on establishing the writ of the Government in Balochistan, particularly in Sui. Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, is expected to chair the meeting amidst reports of worsening law and order situation in the country’s largest province. "Let’s see tomorrow," Information Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, told The News when asked whether military options would be discussed. Read less...

Unidentified persons booby-trapped an electricity pylon and blew it up, suspending electricity to the Mach area for two hours. Read less...

A rocket was fired at the Frontier Corps camp in Nuskhi on January 18 night but it fell near the district coordination officer’s house. Nushki police said there was no loss of life or property. Read less...

Daily Times reports that two civilians were seriously injured when a bomb planted in a donkey-cart exploded in the Vashmandi area of Chaman district in Balochistan on January 19. Later, an unidentified man claimed responsibility for the blast on behalf of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). He said there would be "consequences" in Islamabad and Rawalpindi if there were army action in Balochistan. Read less...

Speaking at a news conference in the Balochistan capital Quetta, provincial President of the Jamhoori Watan Party, Mir Humayun Khan Marri, claimed they had received information that the paramilitary had launched an operation in Sui and added that the regular Army had also moved in from Kashmore to Sui. Further, in Islamabad, military regime spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said "There is no military operation launched in Balochistan or any of its part... However, protective arrangements with logistic support have been made in and around the Sui gas fields." Read less...

The Interior Ministry on January 20 declared twenty cities sensitive with respect to law and order and issued special security guidelines for the occasion of the muslim festival of Eidul Azha. Declaring Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Sibi, Gwadar, Mianwali, Hyderabad, Larkana, Multan, Faisalabad, Jhang, Mardan, Gilgit, DI Khan, Kohat, Sheikhupura and Gujrat sensitive, the Interior Ministry issued a circular to the home secretaries of the four provinces. The circular contained special security arrangements in the respective areas for the occasion of Eid and warned that extremists and terrorists of banned groups and organisations could disrupt law and order. Read less...

The security agencies are reported to have launched a search operation on January 20 in the Sui area of Dera Bugti district in Balochistan province to arrest "miscreants", who attacked the Sui gas plant during January 7-12, according to The News. However, provincial officials denied any military operation claiming that law and order was totally under control. Provincial Home Minister, Mir Shoaib Nausherwani, told The News that law and order situation in Sui was completely under control and security forces’ had been deployed in Sui to protect the gas installations. Read less...

Dawn reports that the Railways authorities have stopped night-time train services across the Balochistan province after repeated attacks by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Official sources said on January 25 that the decision came after five people were wounded on January 23 night when a powerful bomb blew up a section of the rail track near Sibi, about 100 km south east of Quetta. Read less...

Delayed reports have indicated that a passenger train en route to Quetta in the Balochistan province escaped a disaster on January 22 when a powerful bomb exploded at the railway track minutes before the train was to pass the Sariab area. "It was a high powerful time device that was planted by unknown terrorists," an unnamed police official was quoted in The News. On the same day, residents of Quetta reportedly heard three successive explosions in the Killi Shabo area. However, no casualties were reported. Read less...

Security forces’ searched several suspected homes around the main gas field in Sui and recovered small weapons and ammunition, according to Statesman. "Security forces have recovered a rocket propelled grenade, small arms and ammunition from abandoned homes during search operations in Sui on Friday and Saturday," said Balochistan Home Minister Shoaib Nausherwani. "The situation in Sui is now peaceful and security forces are protecting the gas installations," the minister claimed. Nausherwani also rejected reports that security agencies had made any arrest in Sui and added that residents of Sui had voluntarily handed over more than 40 pistols and rifles during the "de-weaponisation" campaign. Read less...

A man identifying himself as Major Naukaf of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) while claiming responsibility for the blasts reportedly said, "It is part of our struggle for the rights of Baluchistan’s people. The BLA will continue this till we achieve the goal." Deputy Inspector General of Police, Rafi Pervez Bhatti, added that they had arrested an alleged terrorist from Quetta for his involvement in bomb explosions and rocket firing incidents. Read less...

According to The News, a Karachi-bound passenger train escaped a disaster on January 24- night when a powerful bomb exploded minutes after the train passed the Sibi railway station in Balochistan province. Pakistan Railways officials said five Railways personnel were wounded when a railway trolley, which passed on the track dismantled by the blast, overturned. Separately, another bomb exploded in the ministers’ block of the Balochistan Civil Secretariat in the provincial capital Quetta without causing any damage. It was the second bomb explosion in the ministers’ block in a month. Earlier, a bomb exploded at a washroom of the ministers’ block on December 18, 2004. Read less...

According to Dawn, three rockets were fired on January 26-night in the Quetta, Sibi and Dhadar areas of Balochistan province, but no loss of life or damage to property was reported. While a rocket landed in the Askari Park area of provincial capital, Quetta, another rocket was fired in Sibi, and a third rocket targeted the Dhadar area, headquarters of Bolan district. Read less...

The Pakistan Army has set up a new military base near the Sui gas field in Balochistan province, where troops have been deployed after a series of rocket attacks disrupted fuel supplies earlier this month. The decision was announced to journalists on a trip organised by the military to Balochistan. Tribesmen have strongly opposed Government plans to establish new military garrisons in the province. Col. Mazhar Masood said that "A new cantonment has been set up in Sui over 400 acres of land. Primarily, a battalion of army soldiers with tanks and other military equipment has been taken there… We are now completely ready to respond to terrorists and miscreants. We will cleanse the area of miscreants and protect strategic installations and the citizens of Sui." He also disclosed that 2,500 army and paramilitary troops are guarding the gas field and Sui. Meanwhile, tribal chief, Nawab Akbar Bugti, who heads the Jamhoori Watan Party, accused the military of being "invaders and occupiers" and claimed they were appropriating land to set up the base. Read less...

A high-voltage power line and a rail track were damaged in the latest round of rocket and bomb attacks in the Balochistan province on January 27. According to Daily Times, a bomb exploded on a rail track near Sibi, a town about 160 kilometers southeast of provincial capital Quetta, destroying a three-foot portion of the track. In Rakhni, a town about 400 kilometers east of Quetta, rockets hit a high-voltage power line leaving thousands of people without electricity, said Jibraeel Khan, a Government official in the area. Meanwhile, police announced the arrests of three men for an armed ambush in August 2004 that killed five soldiers and their civilian driver in Khuzdar. Read less...

23 Afghans were reportedly in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, on January 27-night on suspicion of their links with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The suspects, who included a former deputy governor and ex-police chief of Kabul, were arrested from three places in Quetta, said Balochistan Police chief, Mohammed Yaqub. He said the detainees had held "important positions during Taliban’s tenure" in Afghanistan, and "we suspect that some of them have close links with Al Qaeda." Yaqub disclosed that the suspects were detained during raids in Kharotabad, Pashtun Abad and Nawan Kili. Read less...

At least two bomb explosions and as many rocket attacks were reported from Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province, on January 28. However, no casualties were reported. Police said a powerful bomb exploded in the Zarghoon road residence of Munir Ahmed, an official of the Pakistan Railways, who has recently assumed his charge after being transferred from Sibi. According to The News, when police teams were inspecting the site of the blast, another explosion occurred near the Officers Club of Pakistan Railways next to Quetta railway station. Separately, unidentified miscreants are reported to have fired two rockets targeting the Quetta cantonment. Read less...

Police in the Sibi area arrested Field Manager of the Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, Pervez Majolah, Sui hospital Surgeon, Dr Osman Wada, Medical Officer, Muhammad Ali, and Dr Afzal Pasha following the cancellation of their pre-arrest bails by the Sibi sessions court in connection with the Dr Shazia gang rape case on January 28. Dr Shazia was allegedly gang-raped at a hospital in Sui. The arrests came three weeks after tribesmen, angry over the rape, fired hundreds of rockets, damaging a gas plant run near Sui and leading to the authorities dispatching thousands of troops to control the situation. Read less...

The military announced on January 28 that it would clear 500 dwellings from the area around the gas plant in Balochistan, saying the measure would prevent further attacks and protect residents from a possible explosion, according to Daily Times. The military said it also planned to set up a permanent cantonment in Sui to ensure foolproof security for the gas field. Unnamed officials said that up to 800 regular army soldiers and at least 2,000 paramilitary troops had been guarding the area since the January 9-11 attacks. Read less...

According to The News, almost the whole of Balochistan, including capital Quetta, plunged into darkness when the third main 220 KV electric supply line was blown up in Sibi. Officials of Quetta Electric Supply Company told The News that two out of three main power supply circuit from Guddu transmission line had already been blown up by unidentified armed men on January 29. Meanwhile, the Balochistan Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the attacks on the electricity line, according to Daily Times. Read less...

Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf on January 29 assured the members of the provincial cabinet that no military operation was being launched in Sui area. "The security forces, including Army, were moved to Sui to reinforce the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Defence Security Guard (DSG) at Sui installations as per the decision of the provincial cabinet," said the governor and chief minister after a briefing to the provincial cabinet at the Corps headquarters Quetta. The governor said the intensity of the attacks on Sui gas installations from January 7 to 11 could be assessed from the fact that over 675 rockets had been fired by attackers during the five days. Therefore, he added, the government had to take strict measures to protect the installations from further attacks. Read less...

A bomb explosion was reported from the Askari Park area of Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province, on January 30. However, no casualty was reported. A second blast partially damaged an oil tanker in the Kuchlak suburb of the city, according to Dawn. Further, Police are reported to have defused a third bomb planted inside the Askari Park. Read less...

Security force personnel are reported to have escaped possible losses when two rockets targeting a key garrison in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, failed to explode after their timers malfunctioned. "We got information that two rockets fitted with timers had been placed on the western by-pass in the suburbs of Quetta… Luckily the timers did not work, otherwise the rockets could have caused damage in the cantonment area," said city police chief Pervez Rafi Bhatti. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the failed attack, added Bhatti. Read less...

The Federal Interior Minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, stated in the Balochistan capital Quetta on January 31 that security forces’ would remain in Sui and Dera Bugti to protect national assets and counter terrorists who posed threats to gas plants and people in the area. He also disclosed that 819 rockets were fired and 47 bombs exploded in Sui since the past six months. He said the damage to the plants caused about Rupees 400 million losses to the Pakistan Petroleum Limited while the provincial government lost Rupees 154 million in excise royalty due to suspension of gas supply. Sherpao also disclosed that industries were facing losses of Rs 150 million to Rs 200 million a day since the gas plants were targeted. According to the Minister, since 2003, 1,529 rockets had been fired and 113 bombs exploded in Quetta, Sui, Kohlu and Gwadar. Read less...