Rocket hits Punjab-bound coal truck; driver killed

QUETTA A driver of a truck carrying coal to Punjab was killed and two others sustained severe injuries in a rocket attack in District Loralai here on Sunday. According to police, unidentified miscreants fired a rocket targeting a truck carrying coal to Punjab in Laki area of tehsil Mekthar some 90 kilometres away from Loralai. The rocket hit the truck that resulted in death of a driver identified as Adam Khan and seriously wounded two others. Names of injured have been ascertained as Abdul Wahid and Surat Khan. The injured were rushed to nearby hospital for medical aid. Police handed over body to heirs after completing legal formalities and registered a case against unknown miscreants. Meanwhile, rocket attack sent a wave of anger amongst truck drivers who blocked the Loralai Road to protest the killing of their fellow driver and shouted anti-government slogans. They demanded immediate arrest and stern action against persons involved in rocket attack. However no group has claimed the responsibility for the attack till filing of this report. It is pertinent to mention that previously number of attacks were carried out on trucks carrying coal to Punjab by the Baloch resistance groups who after accepting the responsibility of several attacks had warned truck drivers to avoid transporting of coal or other minerals from Balochistan to Punjab. In another incident, a house was attacked with hand grenade in Machh town some 60 kilometers Southeast of the provincial capital. Unidentified armed men riding a motorbike lobbed a grenade at the house owned by Riaz Ahmed located in Railway Colony of Machh. Resultantly, grenade landed inside the house and went off with a huge explosion breaking the windowpanes of the house and partially damaging boundary walls of the house. However no one was present inside the house during grenade attack. In another incident, Frontier Corps personnel recovered a huge quantity of explosives from Dera Bugti District. Personnel of FC on a tip-off raided Nelagh Nullah of Dera Bugti and recovered 320kg explosive material that was hidden by militants for subversive activities. However, no arrested has been made in this respect.

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