Three injured as oil company vehicle targeted

QUETTA - Three persons, including two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel deployed for providing security to the officials of an oil and gas exploration company, were wounded in a remote-controlled bomb attack in District Kalat Saturday. On the other hand, another gas pipeline has been blown up in the outskirts of Quetta. Defunct Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed the responsibility for both the attacks. The vehicle was badly damaged in the blast at Zahowa, some 160 km southeast of the provincial capital, as a roadside bomb went off. As a result, two FC personnel, Subedar Major Niaz Muhammad and Hawaldar Juma Khan along with Zubair Ahmed, driver, sustained serious injuries. The injured were first rushed to a nearby hospital and later shifted to Quetta for further treatment. However, no official of company was injured in the attack. Sources say the explosion was caused by a remote controlled device. It may be mentioned that Baloch armed groups, including BLA and Lashkar-e-Balochistan, had warned the foreign oil exploration companies to leave the province or face the dire consequences, as according to these groups, the foreign companies are looting and plundering the resources of Balochistan. In another incident, a gas pipeline was blown up in the outskirts of the provincial capital, which suspended gas supply to different nearby areas. The limpet mine, fixed to a four-inch diameter pipeline in Killi Barozai area, destroyed about four-feet section of the pipeline. After the blast police and staff of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) reached the site. Sources in SSGC said the repair work had been started which it would be completed till evening after which gas supply would be restored to the affected areas. A BLA spokesman calling from an unspecified location claimed the responsibility for the two explosions.

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