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February 2006 Headlines |
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Fight To The End
The battle between nationalist forces and the military heats up
The three nationalist Sardars - Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Nawab Khair Baksh
Marri and Sardar Attaullah Mengal - are firm in their faith that the armed
struggle will gain momentum with the passage of the time. They are hopeful
that the struggle for rights and control over their resources will gather
popularity and the government will capitulate. By Shahzada Zulfiqar
Newsline February 2006 |
Gas pipeline, train tracks blown up
A gas pipeline supplying gas to parts of Sariab area was blown up in
Quetta on Sunday night while Quetta’s rail link with the rest of the
country was cut off when two tracks were blown up near Sibi following an
explosion. Meanwhile, a soldier of the Frontier Constabulary was killed
and two others were injured when armed men attacked the force and railway
staff in Tandori area in the Sibi-Harnai section. Mr. Azad Baloch of BLA
(Baloch Liberation Army) claimed responsibility for the attacks. 28.2.06 |
Rockets fired on minister’s house: Man killed; 20 suspects
held
Twenty people were taken into custody on Sunday in connection with a
rocket attack on the residence of a provincial minister on Saturday night
that killed one person and injured eight others. Meanwhile, a caller
identifying himself as Azad Baloch and spokesmen for the Baloch Liberation
Army, told reporters that the BLA had carried out the attack. 27.2.06 |
Main gas supply pipeline to Punjab, NWFP blown up
Gas supply to power and fertilizer plants in Punjab and the NWFP was
suspended following a blast in main pipelines in the Shahwali area of
Rajanpur on Sunday night. Reports from the area said flames were so fierce
that it could be seen from tens of miles during the night. BLA claimed
responsibility for the attack. 27.2.06 |
Rockets hit on Minister’s house, one killed eight injured
Rockets were fired Sunday at the home of a Cabinet minister of Balochistan
province, killing a body guard and wounding eight others, police said.
Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility of the attack. 26.2.06 |
Clashes in Kahan, Dera Bugti, Mach and other areas, several
soldiers kill
Two FC personnel killed in clashes between FC and Baloch separatists and
in another attack, insurgents fired rocket at a check post in Margat
coalmine area near Mach 60 Km from Quetta. Fighting also continue in most
parts of Marri area severe clashes were reported. The army suffered
several casualties but officials declined to comment. A six-year-old girl
was injured when the army mortar shells hit a house in Sangsilla area of
Dera Bugti district on Saturday. 26.2.06 |
Three FC personnel killed in Dera Bugti, Bomb blasts in Quetta
Three frontier Corps soldiers were killed and one was injured on Friday
when Baloch freedom fighters attacked them in Dera Bugti’s Pathar Nala
area. A gas pipeline exploded in Saryab area of Quetta and gas supply was
suspended to nearby localities. It was a third attack on a gas pipeline in
Quetta since February 20. At least three rockets were fired at an FC
check-post in the Kahan area. The Pirkoh gas pipeline was damaged again by
an explosion on Friday. 25.2.06 |
Baloch guerrillas destroying state infrastructure in Balochistan
A gas pipeline between Pir Koh and Dera Bugti was blown up on Thursday
morning. When contacted, officials in Dera Bugti confirmed the incident
and said that Baloch guerrillas had now resorted to destroying
infrastructure of the gas installations and other government institutions
in Dera Bugti and other areas of Balochistan. 24.2.06 |
Two soldiers killed, five wounded in latest Balochistan unrest
Baloch freedom fighters ambushed a military convoy in Balochistan on
Wednesday, killing two soldiers and wounding four near Sibi. The attackers
fled into the mountains after the ambush, he said. Baloch Liberation Army
claimed responsibility of the attack. 23.2.06 |
Four solders injured in a landmine explosion & gas pipeline blown up
Four soldiers were injured when a landmine planted by Baloch rebels
exploded beneath a military vehicle in Karmo wadh on Wednesday. Baloch
insurgents also blew up pipelines feeding natural gas from two wells to a
filtration plant. In a separate incident, Baloch rebels blew up a Gas
pipeline in eastern by pass in Quetta. 23.2.06 |
Landmine kills 3, gas line blown up in Balochistan
A land mine exploded killing three persons in the Lehri area, 200km off
Quetta, while another gas pipeline exploded in Dera Bugti, suspending gas
supply to the town. 22.2.06 |
Bomb blast in Balochistan district Mastung
A bomb blast on Tuesday night rocked the Mehrab Road area here in the
district of Balochistan; however, no loss of life was reported. 22.2.06 |
Gas pipelines and transmission towers blown up
Baloch insurgents blew up a pipeline in the Pir Koh gas field on Monday,
while police in Quetta thwarted an attempt to destroy another pipeline
supplying gas to Quetta city, officials said here. Sources said that
Baloch insurgents attacked a 132-KV transmission line with seven rockets
in Kahan area of Kohlu district. A rocket hit a transmission tower and
disrupted power supply to the area. They said that Baloch insurgents also
fired rockets in Sangsilla and Karmo Wadh areas at FC posts but no damage
was reported. 21.2.06 |
Air strike destroys school, houses
Several houses and a school were destroyed on Monday when planes bombed
two localities in Dera Bugti tehsil, Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab
Akbar Khan Bugti said here. He said that heavy fighting was reported in
Daman area of Sui tehsil where security forces attacked local people who
also retaliated and returned fire. He said that armed tribesmen chased the
FC personnel up to the Sui area. 21.2.06 |
Six more bombings rock Loti and Pirkoh
Six more bombings rocked Loti and Pirkoh gas plants on Sunday damaging
more pipelines and gas wells. A land mine explosion in Kohlu injured a
Frontier Corp’s soldier. Sources said that a group of FC personnel were
headed to Bair when one of them stepped on a land mine. Reportedly,
insurgents also fired rockets at an FC camp in Lehri, Sibi. 20.2.06 |
Doctor abducted by ISI, family seeks human rights groups’
help
Family members of a doctor, who allegedly disappeared from Turbat in mid
November, urged human rights organizations and political parties on
Saturday to help recover his brother. Blaming an intelligence agency for
the disappearance of Dr Hanif Baloch, his brother Ghani Sharif Baloch said
his brother was taken into custody on Nov 18, 2005 from the Turbat bazaar.
20.2.06 |
Two gas plants closed and army personnel injured in attacks
Two major gas plants were shut down on Saturday after Baloch guerrillas
blew up several pipelines and disrupted gas supply from wells. BLA
fighters detonated an explosive device when a convoy of the Frontier Corps
reached within six kilometres of Kalat, three FC personnel seriously
injured. 19.2.06 |
Army heavily deployed’ to fight Baloch insurgency
According to US intelligence sources, six Pakistani army brigades, plus
paramilitary forces totalling some 25,000 men, are battling Baloch
Liberation Army guerrillas in the Kohlu mountains and surrounding areas.
By Khalid Hasan17.2.06 |
Gas pipeline, railway track blown up
The Pir Koh and Loti gas plants stopped functioning on Thursday following
explosion in the main pipeline. In another incident, the main Quetta-Sibi
railway track was blown up near Mach late on Thursday evening. Railway
authorities confirmed that a 20-foot piece of the track linking the city
with the rest of the country had been blown up near Mach on
Thursday.16.2.06 |
Baloch Women stage protest against military operation in
Balochistan
About 100 women and children from Dera Bugti on Thursday staged a
demonstration here to condemn the ongoing operation and called for
immediate halt to hostilities. They alleged that shelling by security
forces had damaged their homes.16.2.06 |
Is the state of Pakistan eroded?
Pakistan state defines itself. What it is not is a social group, it is not
a religious group, and it is not racial, it is the product of a unique
combination of recent historic factors and can never be reduce to single
dimension weather social, religious, racial, or economical. “A nation is
constituted by a sense, on its member’s cultural community with each other
based on a shared past, a heritage of common ways and traditions.”
Pakistan constitutes of five nations, Baloch, Saraki, Sindhi, Punjabi,
Pahkhton, each and every one of these five has a unique culture, which
differentiates one group from another. By M. S. Baloch February 2006 |
Rocket attack disrupts Loti gas supply
Gas supply to Loti gas plant was suspended after another pipeline was
damaged by rocket fire on Tuesday. Personnel of law-enforcement agencies
are reported to have defused eight landmines planted on the Sui Road and
in the Kahan area. Meanwhile, Baloch insurgents are reported to have fired
on least 12 rockets at the FC fort in Dera Bugti, damaging the fort’s
walls while two rockets landed near the FC post in the Kahan area. 15.2.06 |
Opposition asks govt to stop Balochistan operation
Opposition Parties have criticized what they called the ongoing military
operation in Dera Bugti and Kohlu and urged the government to immediately
put an end to the crackdown in order to resolve the issue politically
through negotiations. The meeting criticized a raid on the residence of
Mahmood Khan Achakzai and expressed deep concern over violation of
fundamental rights. 15.2.06 |
Pakistan's Costly 'Other War'
Musharraf's "other war" against the
Baluch, an ethnic minority of 4.5 million, has become increasingly bloody
in recent weeks. According to U.S. intelligence sources, six Pakistani
army brigades, plus paramilitary forces totaling some 25,000 men, are
battling Baluch Liberation Army guerrillas in the Kohlu mountains and
surrounding areas. By Selig S. Harrison 15.2.2006 |
Mach and Kohlu rocked by bomb blasts
Two explosions rocked the coalmine town of Mach on Monday evening, police
said. In Another incident Baloch freedom fighters fired five rockets on an
FC camp in Kohlu. 14.2.06 |
Security forces suffered losses: Bugti
Jamhoori Watan Party leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti has claimed that
security forces suffered heavy losses in recent clashes with tribesmen in
Dera Bugti and Kahan areas. Talking to newsmen on satellite phone from
Dera Bugti on Sunday, he said that two helicopters had taken away the
bodies of the dead and the injured paramilitary troops from Dera Bugti.
13.2.06 |
Powerful blasts rock Quetta, Mastung
Quetta and Mastung were rocked by two powerful explosions on late Sunday
night while an electricity supply pylon was blown up in the Barkhan area.
A gas pipeline was blown up in the Loti gas field, reports reaching here
said. Police said an explosive device, planted near a house on the White
Road behind the Governor’s House, went off at around midnight, creating
panic in the area. 13.2.06 |
Six FC men killed and 12 injured in Balochistan
Six paramilitary personnel killed and 12 others seriously injured in an
incident on Saturday in the Tump area of Balochistan, in an attack by BLA.
A convoy of Frontier Corps was attacked with rockets and automatic weapons
while it was on its way to Mand from Tump, a town on the Pak-Iran
border.12.2.06 |
One FC personnel killed and five injured in Kahan
A FC soldier was killed and five others were injured when two landmines
exploded in the Kahan area of Kohlu district, officials told. 12.2.06 |
BSO
factions unify
Three factions of the Baloch Students Organization merged to form a
unified body after maintaining separate entities for 22 years. The new BSO
leadership announced they would support the people who, they said, were
fighting for Baloch rights. They said that the BSO had been playing the
role of a vanguard in the national struggle of the Baloch political
movement. 12.2.06 |
Allegations of
serious human rights violations in Balochistan must be investigated
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Pakistan
Amnesty International is concerned about reports of human rights
violations in Balochistan province which have escalated in the last two
months. Recent violations have occurred in the context of a security
operation in the province triggered by an attempt on President Pervez
Musharraf's life in December 2005. However the current intensification of
tensions also flows from long-standing grievances felt by the local
population in relation to severe economic underdevelopment and failures to
receive the benefits of large-scale exploitation of the province's natural
resources. 10.2.06 |
Government urged to release Mir Asghar Marri
Some local government representatives of Kohlu district in Balochistan
have demanded ‘release’ of their Marri tribe notable who, according to
them, was ‘kidnapped’ by the government intelligence agencies in Dera
Ghazi Khan. 2.2.06 |
Three civilians and two FC personnel killed in Balochistan
Three civilians killed when Frontier Corps opened indiscriminate mortar
shelling on small town after Baloch Parrarie's (Freedom Fighters) attack a
FC outpost in Dera Bugti district of Balochistan on Tuesday. Baloch
Parrarie's fired at least 23 rockets at the FC post killing two FC
personnel and wounding several. 2.2.06 |
At war with the Nation
The more the government tries to restore order in Balochistan, the harder
becomes the task of establishing its writ in the troubled province with
law and order situation there gradually going from bad to worse. A
powerful blast in a Lahore-bound bus near Quetta on Sunday killed 13 and
injured 20 with police officials finding it difficult to determine whether
it was caused by a time device or by a rocket attack, but wasting no time
in passing the buck on to Baloch nationalists. By: Sarmad Bashir 2006 |
Several FC soldiers killed and injured in landmine blasts
A Frontier Corps solider was killed and five personnel were injured in two
landmine explosions in Pirkoh and Kahan areas while heavy fighting was
reported between Baloch freedom fighters and Pakistani army in Dera Bugti
on Tuesday. 1.2.06 |
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