Balochistan Timeline - Year 2003

An Egyptian national was arrested from the Wahadat colony in Quetta on charges of having links with the Al Qaeda network, said official sources. American intelligence officials along with local security personnel are reported to have taken him to an unknown destination for interrogation.

February 15

Three security force personnel and a civilian are injured in a landmine blast in the Chamlang area of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province.

February 24

Three persons, including two FC officers, were injured in a landmine explosion, at Chamlang area, Kohlu district, Baluchistan. They were on an official jeep when the blast occurred. FC officials said unidentified terrorists had planted the landmine.

Two explosive devices went off in Quetta. While the first explosion occurred at Inscomb Road another was reported from the Quetta cantonment area. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported during these explosions.

In a suspected sectarian incident, unidentified assailants shot and injured a Shia doctor when he was standing beside his clinic at Sibi in Quetta. President of the Anjuman-e-Hussainia, Sibi, Dr Syed Suqalain Naqvi, was reportedly associated with the Shia group Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP) in the past.

June 8

In a sectarian attack, 13 trainee police personnel belonging to the local Hazara community of the Shia sect are killed and eight others injured at Sariab Road in Quetta.

In a suspected sectarian incident, two unidentified assailants killed Syed Niaz Hussain Shah, a Shia leader and vice president of Imam Bargah Satellite Town, in Quetta. No arrests have been made thus far in connection with this incident.

Authorities in Quetta arrested five Taliban fugitives from Zhob during its hunt for the Taliban-Al Qaeda operatives fleeing from Afghanistan. "The authorities have also confiscated huge quantity of arms during the operation including landmines, hand grenades, rocket launchers, SMG rifles, missiles, and thousands of bullets loaded on a truck," an unnamed official said.

July 4

At least 44 persons were killed and 65 others injured when three armed terrorists, including a suspected suicide bomber, attacked a Shiite Muslim mosque in Quetta, capital of the Southwestern Baluchistan province, during the Friday prayers. Curfew was imposed in the city and troops were deployed to maintain law and order as angry mobs set ablaze several vehicles following the massacre. According to media reports, over 450 worshippers were offering Friday prayers at the mosque, Jama Masjid-o-Imambargah Kalaan Isna Ashri, when three terrorists opened indiscriminate fire with automatic weapons and explosive devices. In retaliation, some of the worshippers attacked the killers and one of them, who had tied an explosive devise to his chest, pulled out its pin. The device reportedly exploded killing the terrorist. However, a conflicting report said that two police officials rushed towards the mosque and opened fire on the terrorists, injuring them. Two of the terrorists later blew themselves up. The police defused the explosive device that was tied to the third attacker. He reportedly succumbed to his injuries later. Separately, head of the Federal Interior Ministry's National Crises Management Cell, Brigadier Javed Cheema, said that at least one of the assailants appeared to be a suicide bomber as he had grenades tied to his body and was blown up.

July 6

Police in Quetta detain 19 suspects for interrogation in connection with the July 4 massacre at a mosque in which 53 persons were killed.

July 7

President of the Baluchistan Shiite Conference, Syed Ashraf Zaidi, claims that the al Qaeda was responsible for the July 4 attack on a mosque in Quetta in which 53 persons were killed.

Security agencies arrested three suspects for their alleged links to the July 4 massacre at a Shia mosque in Quetta in which at least 53 persons were killed. A senior police officer said that the arrests were made in Mach, east of Quetta, after interrogation of certain suspects already in custody.

July 16

Proscribed Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claims responsibility for the July 4-Quetta mosque attack in which at least 53 persons were killed.

July 17

A former Taliban 'commander', Zainuddin Achakzai, is reportedly shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Pashtoonabad area on the outskirts of Quetta.

Police in Quetta seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, in the Dasht area of Mastung district and arrested one person. "It is the biggest seizure of heavy arms and ammunition in the country," Inspector General of Police, Baluchistan, Shoaib Suddle, said at a press conference. The police seized 195 Russian-made RPG-7 rockets, three 75mm recoil-less guns, two 20mm guns, three 12.7mm anti-aircraft guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The weapons, mostly of Russian origin, were reportedly hidden underground in the house of the accused, Mir Hazar Kurd, said Suddle. He added that the arms and ammunition had been smuggled from Afghanistan for terrorist activity in Pakistan.

Security agencies seized a large cache of arms and ammunition in a raid conducted in the Mangochar area of district Kalat in the Quetta region. The recoveries included two anti-aircraft guns, four rocket launchers, two mortars, 21 hand grenades, 237 shells of anti aircraft guns, 43 rockets, 24 propellers, 24 mortar shells, one anti-aircraft long barrel and 6,640 rounds of different caliber. However, no arrests were made from the incident site.

A bomb and a rocket exploded at two different places in Quetta. However, no loss of life or property was reported. In the first incident, unidentified assailants hurled an explosive device towards the premises of Fauji Foundation Model School near Shahbaz Town. Separately, a rocket exploded at Killi Paind Khan in the outskirts of the city, a little while after the first explosion.

Five personnel of the FC were injured during a landmine explosion in the Sui area near Quetta on the Sindh-Baluchistan border. Separately, reports from the Chamalang area have indicated that unidentified assailants fired seven rockets at an FC check post. Five of the seven rockets exploded near the post. However, no casualties were reported.

Two rockets exploded in different areas of Quetta, including the Frontier Corps headquarters. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported in these attacks.

Police in Quetta arrested four suspects of a terrorist network involved in June 8 and July 4 sectarian terrorism incidents in which over 60 persons were killed. Three of the alleged terrorists were killed in the July 4 attack at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Quetta while two of them are still at large, said official sources. The three dead terrorists who attacked the mosque were identified as Muhammad Khan, Noor Ahmed and Abdul Shakoor, said Inspector General Police (IGP) Shoaib Suddle. The IGP also said that investigations had indicated that these three terrorists had often visited Afghanistan and had links with a defunct sectarian group. The investigations have reportedly revealed that the gang was also involved in other sectarian violence in Baluchistan, including Quetta. The gang is also involved in the murder of two police personnel on November 1, 2002, murders of four Hindus on February 8, 2003, murder of local jeweller on May 31, 2003, and the killing of 12 Shia police trainees on June 8, 2003, he added.

Security agencies in Quetta arrested Hafiz Hameedullah, younger brother of Baluchistan Health Minister Hafiz Hamdullah, on his alleged links with the Taliban militia. The arrest was made reportedly after investigations of 26 Taliban cadres, who were arrested two weeks ago from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman, Quetta. Meanwhile, the Health Minister said that his brother was innocent and had no links to the Taliban.

Three high power explosive devices exploded at three different places in Quetta. However, no loss of life or injuries was immediately known. While the first two explosions were reported from Kolvin Road the third one occurred in the Shahbaz Town area.

A bomb exploded outside the Brewery police station in Quetta. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

One person was injured as unidentified assailants fired two rockets in the Quetta Cantonment area. Separately, unidentified armed men are reported to have fired three rockets near a camp of the FC in District Kohlu on the same day. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported in these attacks.

Two police personnel were reportedly injured when unidentified armed men hurled a hand-grenade on a police camp at Sariab Road in Quetta. Separately, two rockets were fired by unidentified assailants near the Quetta Cantonment area. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported in this incident.

November 10

Two journalists and seven police personnel are injured in three bomb blasts in the Satellite Town area of Quetta.

At least 200 Afghans have reportedly been arrested in a crackdown on illegal immigrants following a series of bomb and rocket attacks recently in Quetta. 'We have geared up the campaign against (illegal immigrants) for the last four days in the wake of incidents of bomb explosions and rocket strikes,' police chief in Baluchistan province Shoaib Suddle said. He said that 20 of them were suspected to be involved in the recent attacks. Seven persons were injured on November 10 when three bombs exploded in Quetta and earlier in October 2003, two bomb explosions had damaged a railway line. In the recent past, there have been several rocket attacks in Quetta, mostly targeting offices of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary. The police chief, however, denied reports that Taliban cadres were finding shelter in Baluchistan and were using the province to launch attacks in Afghanistan.

November 20

Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami in Dera Bugti, Amanullah Bugti, and his two associates are killed near Dera Bugti, approximately 340 kilometers from Quetta.

Two bombs reportedly exploded near the railway station in Quetta. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. While the first blast took place near the Railway Police Station, another occurred near the Railway Bridge at Joint Road.

A bomb blast was reported from a residential area in Quetta, capital city of Baluchistan. However, no loss of life or injuries was immediately known.

A bomb exploded in the staff colony of the University of Baluchistan in Quetta. There were no casualties in this blast.

A 12-year-old Afghan boy was reportedly killed in a bomb explosion near the residence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Quetta. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. None of Karzai's family was at home when the bomb exploded, around 20 metres from the house, where Karzai lived during his period of exile from Afghanistan. Seven persons were injured in two bomb blasts in a rubbish dump in the same area in November 2003.

At least four persons were reportedly injured in two bomb explosions near Abdul Sattar Road in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan. An unnamed police official said that the Baloch Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Two bombs exploded at two different places in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. While the first bomb exploded in Jogezai Street near Ayub Stadium, another explosion was reported within 20 minutes from the Killi Ismail area.

Two bomb explosions were reported from the Ibrahim Street area near Kawari road in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan. However, there was no loss of life or injuries in these explosions. An unidentified person is reported to have said that the Baloch Liberation Army had carried out the bombing.