Balochistan: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2009

At least 13 people – 10 militants and three Security Force (SF) personnel – were killed in a clash between SFs and militants in Balochistan on January 1, Daily Times reported. According to the SFs, the gun-battle started when the militants – reportedly members of the Bugti tribe – attacked a patrol party in Dera Bugti District. The clash continued for the entire day in the Uch, Gandoi and Zan kho areas. At least five SF personnel were also injured in the gun-battle. Read less...

Baloch Republican Party Chief and militant leader Nawabzada Bramdagh Bugti has urged the Baloch nationalist groups to abandon parliamentary politics and form a united front in their struggle for 'freedom', Dawn reported. In a telephonic press conference from an unknown location on January 1, he rejected the idea of holding negotiations with the Government to resolve the Balochistan issue. He said the Baloch people did not trust state elements, which he claimed had deceived them in the past. He said the Baloch leaders, Khan of Kalat Ahmed Yar Khan, Price Agha Karim and Nawab Nauroz Khan Zarakzai, had also held talks with rulers but it proved aimless as the 'usurpers' were reluctant to recognize the national rights of the Baloch people. Bramdagh Bugti said the Baloch people were passing through a critical phase of their history and in such situations it was the responsibility of the Baloch masses, especially the political forces to realize the gravity of situation and strive for a collective struggle. He maintained that the only way to get sovereign rights was to join an armed struggle against the 'usurpers that have occupied their motherland'. He alleged that the troops in Balochistan were using missiles from the United States and Britain against their resistance movement and added that the Balochs would still be able to defeat the state forces that were killing people in military operations. Bugti also stated that tribalism, individualism and self-interest of opportunists were the main hurdles in the unity of the Baloch people. Read less...

A clash between Security Forces and the Baloch militants in Dera Bugti District continued for a second consecutive day on January 2. The BRA spokesman claimed that the militants killed 12 Frontier Corps (FC) personnel when they blew up three of their vehicles in Gazi Tir. The BRA spokesman added that rockets were fired and a gun-battle continued between the militants and the FC personnel. Read less...

At least 16 persons, including the driver of a Quetta-bound train, were injured when Baloch militants attacked the train on January 2, Daily Times reported. The Quetta Express, coming from Peshawar in the NWFP, was attacked in Nothal area of Sibi District. The attack injured 15 passengers and the train driver, who was reported to be in a critical condition. The Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the incident, saying the attack had killed three Policemen deputed on the train to ensure security. BRA spokesman Sarbaz Baloch told Daily Times that the attack was a part of the fresh phase of BRA attacks on Government installations after it decided to end the unilateral cease-fire announced in September 2008. Read less...

In another incident in the Mastung area, an assailant hurled a grenade at an FC team. The explosion killed a civilian, identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, an Uzbek national, and injured around a dozen people, including three FC personnel. Read less...

Latest data has indicated that year 2008 witnessed an increase in terrorist activities, as 120 bomb blasts, 208 rocket attacks, 141 landmine explosions and 32 hand grenade attacks were recorded in the province, which killed more than 150 people and injured an estimated 200. Read less...

Two officials of the Frontier Corps (FC) were killed and four others injured when an FC patrol struck a landmine in the Uch area of Dera Bugti in Balochistan in the early hours of January 3, according to Daily Times. “Two soldiers were killed and four others were injured in the incident,” a FC spokesman told AFP. A spokesman for the Balochistan Republican Army later claimed responsibility for the attack, AFP said. Read less...

According to Daily Times, armed men killed a trooper of the Balochistan Constabulary, identified as Abdul Hakeem, in the Shallkot area of Quetta, capital of Balochistan, in the evening of January 4. No group has claimed responsibility for the killing so far. The attack appeared to be a targeted killing – the first of its type directed against a Government functionary in 2009. Around 73 people are reported to have died in targeted killings by Baloch militants in 2008. Read less...

Balochistan National Party (BNP) Information Secretary and former senator Sanaullah Baloch has disclosed that the supporters of Taliban have captured land worth PKR Two billion in the eastern and western parts of provincial capital Quetta with the covert support of the ‘establishment’ in order to undermine the Baloch nationalist movement and promote Talibanisation in Balochistan. In an interview with Daily Times on January 4, the former senator said the Government had failed to establish its writ in Quetta, where the Taliban and their supporters were consolidating their grip. Several parts of the provincial capital have become ‘no-go areas’ where the Taliban and their supporters have consolidated their position, he said. He said the Government was fully aware of these encroachments but it was deliberately silent because the Taliban enjoy the support of the Government and its intelligence agencies who wish to pit the religious elements against the Baloch nationalists. “We are surprised why the Government does not undertake a military operation against these elements who have openly challenged the writ of the Government. Military operations were carried out in Dera Bugti and Sui areas by the Government on the pretext of establishing the writ of the Government, but the state machinery does not move against the Taliban and their supporters who have illegally and forcefully captured large areas of land in Balochistan,” he said. Sanaullah said the Government was trying to patronise the Taliban elements in Quetta and its outskirts in order to undermine the power of the actual democratic forces. The Afghan refugees, besides being a burden on the economy of Balochistan, have become the biggest cause of lawlessness and terrorism in the country’s largest province, he added. Read less...

One more police constable, identified as Liaquat Ali, was killed in Turbat, according to Dawn. Read less...

Three armed groups in Balochistan on January 4 announced the formal end of a four-month-old unilateral cease-fire in response to the Security Forces’ continued military operation in the province, Daily Times reported. Declaring the end of the truce, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) spokesman Bibarg Baloch said the BLA, the Balochistan Republican Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front were disappointed by the Government’s ‘lacklustre’ response to the cease-fire. The three ‘pro-independent Balochistan’ groups announced the cease-fire in September 2008. Bibarg told Daily Times they had decided to unconditionally halt their operations last September, hoping the Government would concede to the Baloch demands. He said the three groups had sincerely adhered to their pledge of not launching attacks, but alleged the Government continued the military operation, exploiting Baloch resources and killing innocent people. “We have decided to end the cease-fire in the wake of fresh attacks in Dera Bugti and Sui areas which have killed more than 50 people, mainly women and children,” said Bibarg, claiming the situation in the conflict areas was worse than what was being reported in the media, as the media had limited access to the areas. Bibarg also said the Government took the truce as an opportunity to expand the military operations to Gwadar, Turbat, and Mashky. He said the Baloch wanted to convey to the world that Islamabad would not review its policy towards Balochistan in any case. Read less...

Unidentified assailants targeted the Jaffar Express train going from Balochistan to Sindh on January 4. At least three persons were wounded in the attack which took place in Mangoli, seven kilometers from the Dera Murad Jamali District. The Baloch Republican Army has claimed responsibility for the attack. Its spokesman, Sarbaz Baloch, told Daily Times that the driver of the train had been killed, but the claim could not be verified through independent sources. The attack on January 4 was the second on a passenger train in four days. Read less...

Elsewhere in the province, gas supply to the Sui purification plant was suspended after a pipeline was blown up in Sui town in the evening of January 5, Dawn reported. According to police sources, the blast caused by device placed under the pipeline connecting gas wells with the main purification plant damaged a portion of about five to six feet. Baloch Republican Army’s spokesman Sarbaz Baloch claimed responsibility for the blast Read less...

Unidentified assailants killed two Shias in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, on January 5 despite tight security arrangements due to Muharram, Daily Times reported. Police sources said motorcyclists attacked two Hazaragi-speaking members of the Shia community, identified as Muhammad Essa and Muhammad Khan, on Kirani Road. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings so far. Read less...

A remote-controlled bomb planted in a motorcycle parked in front of a shop in Sui town exploded. However, no casualties were reported. Read less...

Police in Balochistan have arrested four foreigners near Pakistan’s border with Iran on suspicion of links with international terrorists, sources said on January 7, according to Daily Times. The Panjgur Police believe the four men were members of al Qaeda who entered Pakistan via Afghanistan and were planning to go to Iran to pursue terrorist activities. The raid was conducted in Tasp town of Panjgur to arrest two Turkish nationals and two Azerbaijan nationals, a Panjgur-based Police official said. All four suspects were immediately handed over to investigation agencies and shifted to Quetta, he added. The suspects reportedly claimed to have come to Pakistan to acquire religious education, although according to Police, it seemed they wanted to cross the border into Iran. Read less...

The Security Forces in Dera Bugti recovered two kilograms of explosives from two men. Read less...

Unidentified militants blew up two gas pipelines in Sui on January 7. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Read less...

A day earlier on January 8, one civilian was killed and eight persons were wounded when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded near a Security Forces’ (SFs) vehicle in Khuzdar, Dawn reported. “One civilian was killed and eight people including a paramilitary soldier were injured in the attack,” said Ali Murad, a doctor at the district hospital. The device was detonated by remote control when the SFs vehicle approached. Read less...

According to The News, a Bugti tribal chief, along with three bodyguards, were killed in a landmine explosion in the Bekar area of Dera Bugti District, official sources said late on January 9. Wadera Nawaz Masoori Bugti was on his way to a village when his vehicle hit an anti-tank landmine planted by unidentified miscreants. Consequently, Wadera Nawaz, along with three of his bodyguards, was killed on the spot, while two other people sustained injuries. Read less...

Two Punjab-bound trains were fired upon by suspected militants in Dera Murad Jamali and Kashmore on January 9, Daily Times reported. According to private TV channel reports, unidentified men attacked the Rawalpindi-bound Jaffar Express near Dera Murad Jamali, killing its assistant driver and injuring four persons. Further, the Chilton Express was fired upon near Kashmore, after which train drivers stopped working in protest, causing severe transportation problems for the people. Read less...

In a sectarian incident, unidentified men killed a central leader of the Fiqah Jafferia along with his guard in Sibi District on January 10, Daily Times reported on January 11. The assailants opened fire on Saqlain Haider and his guard, Ghulam Ali. No one has claimed responsibility for the killings so far. Read less...

Suspected militants blew up a 24-inch gas pipeline from Pirkoh gas field to the plant in Dera Bugti on January 11, Daily Times reported. The supply of gas to the plant was suspended following a blast caused by explosive planted near the pipeline. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Read less...

Unknown miscreants lobbed a hand grenade into the house of a Railway guard at the Railway Colony in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, late on January 12, according to The News. However, no casualty has been reported. Read less...

Seven Security Force personnel were injured in an explosion in the Pir Koh gas field area of Dera Bugti District on January 13, Dawn reported. The explosion took place when a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle was blown up by a bomb planted on a road and detonated by remote control. Seven FC men in the vehicle were injured and the vehicle was completely destroyed, official sources said. A spokesman for the banned Baloch Republican Army, Sarbaz Baloch, called journalists from an unspecified location and claimed responsibility for the blast. Read less...

According to Daily Times, four persons, including three soldiers, were killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast in the Dera Bugti District on January 14. The Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the incident. The bomb, planted in the Sui Colony main bazaar, targeted a van carrying paramilitary personnel. Three soldiers and a shopkeeper died instantly. BRA spokesman Sarbaz Baloch told Daily Times that the Security Force personnel had gone to the Sui bazaar to remove posters of their slain leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. He apologised for the civilian’s death saying it was unintentional. "We are sorry for the killing of an innocent man. But we would like to appeal to the people of Balochistan to stay away from the check-posts and vehicles of the police, FC [Frontier Corps] and the military, because they are our prime targets… Attacks can take place any time. We should not be blamed next time a civilian dies in an attack on officials. People have to be vigilant," he said. Read less...

Unidentified assailants killed four Policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, in a shootout in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, on January 14, Daily Times reported. Motorcyclists ambushed a Police team on Sariab Road at around 11am, killing four Policemen. Three of the murdered Policemen belonged to Hazara community and were Shia. The outlawed Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the killings, which reportedly appear to be part of a recent series of target killing of Shias in the provincial capital that has claimed six lives in a month. "We claim the responsibility for today’s attack," Ali Haider, identifying himself as a spokesman for the group, said in telephone calls to local media, AFP reported. "It was a target killing and police officers belonging to the Hazara tribe were targeted," a senior police officer said, according to Dawn. Read less...

Rockets fired by suspected insurgents slightly damaged boundary walls of a Security Force camp in Dera Bugti on January 15. Four rockets fired from an unknown direction landed near the camp of a security agency deployed for the security of installations in Dera Bugti. However, no casualty was reported. Read less...

Two youths belonging to the Bugti tribe were injured in a landmine explosion at Yarupat village of Sui sub-division on January 15, The News reported. Read less...

Militants blew up a gas pipeline in Dera Bugti on January 19, suspending supplies to several areas, AFP quoted officials as saying. According to Daily Times, the pre-dawn blast damaged a main pipeline bringing gas from the Pirkoh field to the Sui purification plant in Dera Bugti District. However, no casualties were reported. The Baloch Republican Army has claimed responsibility for the blast. “We carried out the attack,” Sarbaz Baloch, a spokesman for the group, said in telephone calls to the local media. Read less...

A bank manager of Habib Bank Limited was killed by the insurgents early on January 20, according to Daily Times. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility, saying the slain banker was ‘spying’ for intelligence agencies. Attiq Ahmed Qureshi, the bank manager, was shot dead by unidentified men on a motorcycle, near the Sariab Police Station. BLA spokesman Bibarg Baloch told Daily Times that Attiq had been warned several times before to stop going against the BLA’s cause by spying for the agencies. Read less...

Gas supply to the main Sui purification plant from Pir Koh field was suspended after a pipeline was blown up in the Dera Bugti District on January 20, Dawn reported. A large portion of the 24-inch diameter pipeline was blown up by the blast, said a senior police officer. Read less...

According to Dawn, gas supply from the Loti field to the Sui purification plant was suspended on January 21 after insurgents blew up a pipeline in the Dasht Goran area of Dera Bugti District. “The explosion destroyed a five-foot section of the 18-inch-diameter pipeline,” a security official said in Sui. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. A 24-inch pipeline connecting the Pir Koh gas field with the Sui plant had been blown up a day earlier on January 20. Sarbaz Baloch, claiming to be the spokesman of the outlawed Baloch Republican Army, claimed responsibility for both the blasts. Read less...

Two persons of Punjabi origin were shot dead in a targeted killing on the Sariab road in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on January 24, Police said, reported Daily Times. The victims, identified as Muhammad Farooq and Shahzad Ahmed, were both residents of Rahim Yar Khan District of Punjab. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) spokesman Bibarg Baloch claiming the responsibility for the killings told Daily Times that the men were killed in reaction to the “ongoing genocide of the Baloch people by the Pakistan Army”. He said the BLA had formally asked all ‘Punjabi citizens’ to leave Balochistan or face the consequences. “Those who followed our warnings have already left, but those who refuse to quit Balochistan will be targeted in the future,” he warned. The BLA spokesman also claimed the two men were intelligence agents. Read less...

Personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) had to be called in to maintain law and order in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, after fierce clashes erupted between Police and an angry mob following the killing of Chairman Hazara Democratic Party, Hussain Ali Yousufi of the Shia community, on January 26, The News reported. Yousufi, who was running a travel agency on the Dr Bano Road, was entering his office at 10:30am (PST) when some unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on him with automatic weapons. The armed men later escaped from the incident site. At least 13 persons were injured when clashes among angry protestors, Police and traders took place on the Shahra-e-Iqbal and Jinnah Road. The traders and protestors used weapons and pelted stones at each other. The protesters also torched several vehicles, motorcycles and a bank on the Jinnah Road. Four vehicles, a commercial bank and two motorcycles were set ablaze as clashes continued for several hours. Police later claimed to have arrested 21 suspects, including three activists of a banned religious organization, on charges of killing Hussain Yousufi. AFP added that the banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the killing in a telephone call to the local press club. “We claim responsibility for this attack,” said the caller, who identified himself as Ali Haider, a purported LeJ spokesman. Around 12 Hazaragi-speaking Shias have been killed in Quetta in about a month’s time, according to Daily Times. Read less...

A day earlier on January 29, at least nine people, including three Security Force personnel, were injured in a landmine blast in the Ampadagh area of Bolan District. According to the Police, some of the injured were employees of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL). They were proceeding to Ampadagh where a PPL team had been engaged in an oil exploration survey for the past few months, when the vehicle they were traveling in hit a landmine planted by unidentified militants. Read less...

A man was killed when militants fired a rocket into a farmhouse in Naseerabad on January 30 Daily Times reported. "Militants fired two rockets targeting a Frontier Corps checkpoint. One of the rockets hit a farmhouse in the area, killing one civilian," local police official Nizam Shahid Durrani told AFP. Read less...