Balochistan Timeline - 2007

January 1

Suspected insurgents blew up a main gas pipeline and two electricity pylons at Dera Bugti in Balochistan. The Balochistan Liberation Army leader, Wadera Alam Khan Bugti, claimed responsibility for the attack. He also claimed responsibility for two other incidents in which three electricity poles in Dasht and a gas pipeline were blown up.

January 3

Insurgents blew up an 18-inch diameter pipeline in Dera Bugti, suspending the supply of gas to Pir Koh and other areas of the district.

Police in Jaffarabad arrested 24 alleged terrorists and seized several weapons.

Police in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, arrested two terrorists allegedly involved in gas pipeline explosions in the province.

January 5

A gas pipeline is blown up in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan province, disrupting supply to a nearby gas plant.

January 6

Security forces (SFs) kill four insurgents, including ‘commander’ Dur Mohammed, and arrest seven others during a raid on a farrari (fugitive) camp in the Dera Bugti district.

Unidentified miscreants blew up a portion of the railway track at Nasirabad.

SFs continue their crackdown on insurgents and their alleged camps in various areas of the Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts.

January 7

Security forces arrest 16 suspected Taliban operatives from Pishin. They are arrested during a raid in the Pishin Bazaar.

January 9

Two SF personnel, Sakhi Jan and Zainullah, are killed during an encounter with the insurgents in the Chakar Marri village in the Bolan district. Nine insurgents and two SF personnel are injured in the clash.

A special anti-terrorism court in Quetta issues arrest warrants for the slain tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti’s grandson, Bramdag Bugti, and six others. They are wanted under the Explosive Substances’ Act, in a case registered with the Sariab police.

January 11

January 14

A bomb attached to an Afghanistan-bound petrol tanker supplying fuel to American forces in that country exploded in the Chaman town of Balochistan, but caused no casualties. A paramilitary commander told AFP that a convoy of four petrol tankers is near the town of Chaman, bordering Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, when the bomb detonated. The explosion overturned the tanker, causing a huge blaze, he confirmed, adding that no one is hurt in the incident and the three other tankers are able to proceed to safety.

January 15

Abul Haq Haqiq, who is known to the media as Mohammad Hanif, is arrested in the eastern province of Nangarhar. During interrogation he reportedly said Omar is in the western Pakistan city of Quetta (capital of Balochistan province), the Afghan intelligence agency said in a statement. "He is under the protection of the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] in Quetta," it quoted Hanif as saying.

January 16

Police arrested nine suspected Taliban militants in Kuchlak, some 25 kilometers from Quetta. A senior police official said the militants – believed to be from Ghazni province of Afghanistan – are staying at a small hotel. "They have been booked under the Foreigners Act because they failed to produce proper travel documents," said Quetta Police Senior Superintendent of Police, Qazi Wahid.

January 17

In separate incidents, two powerful bombs exploded in Hub and Mastung, while rockets are fired at two security check-posts in the Karmo-Wadh area and the Pat Feeder area of Nasirabad district.

A bomb is planted beneath a 12-inch diameter pipeline supplying gas to the Hub area that exploded in the Public Health Engineering Colony near the Lasbela Canal area. The pipeline is damaged but gas supply is not interrupted. Another bomb exploded in an isolated place in the Mastung town. However, no loss of life or injuries is reported.

Insurgents fired eight rockets at a check-post of the Frontier Corps in the Karmo-Wadh area of Kahan district. However, they exploded in an open area without causing any damage. They also reportedly attacked a check-post in the Pat Feeder area of Nasirabad district. "At least eight rockets are fired but none of them hit the target," police said.

Police foiled an attempt to blow up a pylon of power transmission line by defusing two bombs in the Mastung area.

January 19

Security forces (SFs) destroyed at least four camps of the insurgents and arrested 30 people during an operation launched in the Kohlu and Sibi districts. SFs reportedly launched operations in the Babar Kach, Jalari, Sangan and Pir Darbar areas with helicopter gun-ships targeting the camps. Troops also arrested around 30-armed men, including 21 of them in an injured condition. A large cache of arms and ammunition is also seized from the camps.

January 21

Pakistan strongly rejected allegations that the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is hiding in Quetta.

January 23

Insurgents are reported to have attacked security check-posts in the Kohlu, Wadh and Khuzdar areas. A house is badly damaged in a rocket attack in a village near the Bakhtiarabad area of Sibi district. According to official sources, insurgents fired at least two rockets at the check-post of the Frontier Corps in the Baran-Luck area in Wadh. Another rocket fired on the Khuzdar town reportedly exploded near the gate of the camp of the Balochistan Constabulary. Insurgents also attacked another check-post of the Frontier Corps in the Kohlu area. However, no loss of life or injuries is reported in these incidents.

January 28

Gas supply to the main purification plant at Sui is suspended after insurgents blew up the main pipeline from the gas field. Sources said that high explosives armed with a timer are used to blow up the pipeline. "The blast destroyed a portion of the pipeline," official sources in Sui said, adding that soon after the incident the gas supply in the affected pipeline is cut off from the wells. 

Insurgents reportedly fired at least four rockets targeting a Frontier Corps check-post in Kohlu. However, no casualties are reported.  

Security forces recovered 16 kilograms of high explosives dumped between Sui and Loti.

January 29

Insurgents blew up a gas pipeline in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti district. According to officials, insurgents placed explosives beneath a gas pipeline in the Marro area and blew up a big portion of the pipeline, resulting in suspension of supply to some areas of Sindh and Punjab from the main supplying system.

10 rockets are fired at an airport and a Frontier Corps (FC) camp in three incidents. Insurgents fired three rockets at an airport and another four at an FC camp in the Panjgur district. "The rockets missed their target, but caused partial damage to the airport building," In the attack on an FC camp, officials said that FC personnel returned fire in the same direction from where the rockets had been launched. In the third incident, three rockets are fired at a security check-point in the Bhambore area of Kohlu district.

February 1

Unidentified men fired two rockets at the Gwadar port area, suspending power supply to the entire district for several hours. Both rockets were fired from Padi Zar, the eastern part of the city, at about 12am. "One of the rockets fell into the sea while the other landed in the port area," Baharam Baloch, a Gwadar-based journalist. However, no loss of life or injuries is reported.

February 2

Security forces seized more than 30 surface-to-surface missiles from a insurgent hideout in Sui. However, no one is arrested.

February 10

A civilian, identified as Abdul Ghani Jan, is killed and two persons wounded during a landmine blast at Lehrai in the Sibi district.

Gas supply to parts of Quetta is disrupted for over 12 hours after suspected insurgents blew up a major gas pipeline. The 16-inch diameter pipeline is ruptured in the Kili Kambarani locality on the outskirts of Quetta. The explosion caused a huge fire, which forced the suspension of the main centre supplying gas to the city. However, no loss of life or injuries is reported.

February 12

Two bomb blasts occurred in Quetta. According to police sources, unknown people fired a rocket around 11:30pm that landed and exploded in Pashtoonabad area. A portion of the house is damaged due to the explosion. Another powerful explosion is reported from the Balock-5 area of the Satellite town. However, no loss of life or injuries is reported.

February 14

A gas pipeline is blown up at Sui is blown up by insurgents disrupting supply to the main purification plant. According to Pakistan Petroleum Limited sources, an explosive device is planted under the pipeline supply gas to the plant from well No.21 of the Sui field. However, no loss of life or injuries is reported.

February 15

The Government has decided to repatriate all Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan by 2009. This is announced at a meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Cabinet Committee held in Islamabad. The committee – headed by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao –devised a strategy to send all Afghan refugees back to their homeland in three years, from 2007 to 2009. Under the strategy, four camps of Afghan refugees located in Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) will be removed in the ongoing year. In the first phase, two of them -- one in each province -- will be dismantled in March. According to official figures, approximately 2.4 million Afghans are living in Pakistan – one million in camps and 1.4 million in the urban areas. Since 2002, about 2.8 million Afghan refugees have reportedly been repatriated to their homeland.

February 17

17 people, including a senior civil judge, were killed and 30 others injured in a suicide bombing in the Quetta District Courts compound. The blast occurred inside the courtroom of Senior Civil Judge Abdul Wahid Durrani at 11:05am (PST). Tariq Masood Khosa, Balochistan’s Inspector General of Police, said, "It was a suicide bombing which is evident from the recovery of the heads of two persons. One of them entered the courtroom and blew himself up."

February 18

Two boys, identified as Behram and Hassan, are killed in a landmine explosion at Turab Gholato village in the Kashmore area along the Sindh-Balochistan border.  

Three SF personnel are injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in the Doe Wodh area of Dera Bugti district.  

Suspected insurgents blew up a 16-inch diameter pipeline, supplying gas to the Purification Plant, in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti district. However, no loss of life or injuries is reported.

Special police teams raided different places in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, and detained around 50 suspects including 25 Afghan nationals, in connection with the suicide-bombing incident of February 17 in which at least 16 people are killed. The suicide bomber who struck in a courtroom of a senior civil judge in Quetta could not be identified and police sent parts of his body to Islamabad for DNA tests and for restructuring his face for identification.

February 20

Federal Minister for Frontier Regions, Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, survived an attempt on his life in the Sani area of Bolan district in Balochistan province. The minister is reportedly going to Sibi from his native town of Shoran to attend a meeting. According to officials, the caravan of the minister is attacked near Landow village. Deputy Inspector General of Police (Sibi Range) told that the assailants are the same people who had attacked a security forces’ convoy in the same area about two months ago, adding that he suspected some local people’s involvement. 

The rail link between provincial capital Quetta and the rest of the country is cut off as insurgents reportedly blew up a main railway line near Quetta late. According to police sources, some people planted explosives under the main railway track in the Parkaniabad area of Sariab and blew it up. As a result, the railway traffic between Quetta and Sibi is suspended. Railway authorities confirmed that all Quetta-bound trains coming from Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Peshawar would be stopped at different stations till the track is repaired. 

The supply of gas to four districts of Balochistan and a private power plant is disrupted as insurgents blew up a main pipeline in Akhtarabad, a suburb of Quetta. According to police sources, militants planted a powerful explosive device beneath the pipeline near Killi Raisani of the Akhtarabad area and blew it up.

February 21

At least seven people are injured in two separate landmine explosions in the Balochistan province. In the first incident, police said that three men, including two brothers, are injured when their motorbike hit a landmine while they are travelling towards Dera Bugti. In the second incident, four people are injured at Dera Allah Yar when their vehicle hit a landmine.

Suspected insurgents in Dera Bugti blew up an 18-inch diameter gas pipeline.

February 22

Police in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, seized eight kilograms of explosive material, a detonator and a remote-controlled bomb from the Hazar Gangi area, but no arrests are made.

February 23

A bomb exploded in the Mastung town of Balochistan province, without causing any loss of life or injuries. According to police sources, a home-made bomb planted along the wall of the office of the Public Safety Commission with timer exploded at around 10.30pm PST. The wall of the Public Safety Commission office collapsed while windowpanes of many nearby houses are destroyed in the explosion.

February 24

The power supply to several parts of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, is disrupted after some unidentified people fired a rocket at the Sheik Mandha grid station near Askari Park.

February 25

A woman and her two children are killed when insurgents fired a rocket at their house in the Kahan area of Kohlu district in Balochistan province. Government officials, however, did not confirm the report.  

Insurgents also blew up a two-foot section of the railway track near the provincial capital Quetta with a powerful bomb. Police defused three other bombs found near the blast’s site.  

A bomb blast is reported outside a security force’s check post. No loss of life or injuries is reported.  

Another rocket is fired at the Balochistan Constabulary’s check post in the Khuzdar district. The rocket missed the intended target and landed a few meters away from the check post. No damage is reported.

February 26

The main railway track near Dera Murad Jamali is blown up, severing rail link between Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, and rest of the country for a second time in 24 hours. "At least three feet of the rail track near village Sona Khan Bugti is blown up when an explosive device went off," said Nasirabad District Police Officer Qazi Hussain Ahmad.

A bomb exploded near the house of the Mastung DCO.

February 27

A grenade is hurled at the home of the Kalat District Coordination Officer DCO. However, the grenade exploded in the backyard of the house and caused no damage. Police arrested at least 15 suspects in connection with a rocket attack in which a grid station along the Quetta-Chaman road is destroyed on February 25. The Quetta Electricity Supply Company reportedly suffered a loss of around PKR 30 million in the attack as power supply to six of 13 feeders is suspended.

In Balochistan, a bomb explosion is reported from the Mastung town. No loss of life or injuries is reported.

Security forces captured a high-ranking Taliban leader, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. An unidentified security official said that Akhund, the third most senior member of the Taliban’s 10-member leadership council, is arrested, hours after a visit to Pakistan by United States Vice-President Dick Cheney. The head of the Interior Ministry’s Crisis Management Unit, retired Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, however, denied that Akhund had been detained. 

February 28

Officials said that five Afghans with suspected links to the Taliban have been arrested during a raid in a hotel in Quetta. Police official Qazi Abdul Wahid said, "They appeared to be affiliates of the Taliban and we are interrogating the suspects about their links."

March 1

President General Pervez Musharraf said that the government is willing to hold talks with insurgents in Balochistan to end the violence in the province. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Sibbi festival in Sibbi, he said, "They should tell us what their demands are. We are ready to give them everything." He, however, added, "no power can separate Balochistan from Pakistan". Musharraf further said, "We have the capability to counter terrorist acts in Balochistan. Those indulging in terrorist acts are also from among us. I appeal to them to give up these activities and join the development process."

March 7

A bomb attached to a motorcycle went off near a vehicle carrying pro-government tribal elders in Sui, killing one of the elders and wounding 12 others, an official said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack

India denied allegations by Pakistani officials that New Delhi is involved in aiding tribal militants in its Balochistan province. "India has nothing to do with developments in Balochistan," India's foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in response to Pakistan's charges.

March 9

Police arrested one Jalil Ahmed Ababaki alias Abubakar of the banned militant group LeJ from the Sukkur district. According to the District Police Officer DPO Mazhar Nawaz Sheikh Jalil is allegedly planning a suicide attack today on a Muharram procession and that a hand grenade, 1.5 kilogrammes of explosive material, seven detonators, four steel switches, two plastic switches, five screws and a jacket used for suicide bombing are recovered from his possession. He also informed that Ababaki belonged to the group of Usman alias Saifullah, who leads Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Balochistan and is wanted by the Provincial Government with a head money of PKR 1 million.

March 12

Insurgents blew up a gas pipeline near Jinnah town, disrupting supply to many areas for several hours. A portion of the 6-inch diameter pipeline is blown up as an explosive device planted under the pipeline went off at 10:45 am, said police. As a result of the explosion, they said, gas supply to Arbab Town, Killi Ismail, parts of Jinnah town, Samungli Housing Scheme and some areas on the outskirts of Quetta remained suspended for several hours. Water supply to parts of the city is also affected as a water pipeline is also damaged in the explosion.

March 14

SFs arrested Wahid Bakhsh Qambar, Tump area leader of the banned BLA, along with 13 of his men after a brief clash in the Tump area.

March 16

The Balochistan provincial capital, Quetta, was rocked by three separate blasts. Sources said that a child was injured in a blast caused by a hand grenade that was lobbed into a Police constable’s house.

In Samungali Housing Scheme, unknown assailants threw a hand grenade in front of a house.

An explosion occurred in the area adjoining railway station. However, no casualties were reported in these incidents.

March 17

A rocket fired by suspected insurgents at troops in Quetta garrison missed its target and hit a civilian residential building and damaged the roof. No one was injured.

Insurgents fired five rockets at a paramilitary troop camp in the Kohlu district. One of the rockets hit an electricity transformer in Tratarni village, which disrupted power supply to some villages. No one was injured.

March 18

Suspected tribal insurgents blew up a main gas pipeline, feeding a filtration plant in the Pirkoh district, with explosives. No one was injured.

Part of a main railway track was blown up with explosives in the Spazend area, about 22 kilometres south of Quetta, but there was no disruption to the train service, railway official Mohammad Javed said. No one was injured

March 20

Two policemen were injured in a hand-grenade attack on a Police vehicle in Quetta.

A 4-inch-diameter gas pipeline was blown up in Killi Shiekhan in Mastung town.

March 21

Five FC personnel were killed and four injured when unidentified gunmen ambushed their vehicle in the Bramcha area of Chagai district, an FC official said.

March 22

Two rockets exploded in different areas of Quetta while the Quetta-Sibi train link was severed after insurgents blew up the main railway line.

March 23

Gas supply was suspended to the purification plant from a well of the Sui gas field as militants blew up a pipeline.

Law-enforcement agencies foiled an attempt to blow up the railway tracks between Mastung and Nushki, linking Quetta with Zahidan.

March 24

A Police post was blown up in a village near Sibi, some 160-km from Quetta, Police sources said.

A gas pipeline was damaged by an explosion in Paringabad area near Mastung suspending gas supply to nearby villages. The four-inch diameter pipeline was damaged by a home-made bomb.

Insurgents made an attempt to blow up the main pipeline supplying gas to Mastung and Kalat districts by planting a powerful bomb near the pipeline. The bomb went off but the pipeline was not damaged.

March 27

Security forces found three rockets buried under the soil in the Sangseela area.

March 28

Unidentified militants blew up a gas pipeline in Mastung and a major power pylon in Bolan district, suspending gas and power supply to several areas.

March 29

One civilian was injured in a landmine explosion near Dera Bugti. Police sources said Mohammad Razee Bugti was working in his field in the Dynari Pat area when the landmine exploded.

March 30

A security force (SF) personnel was killed and four others wounded in a gun-battle between SFs and insurgents in the Lanjo Sighari area of Dera Bugti, on the Punjab-Balochistan border.

Supply of gas to Kalat was suspended after a main pipeline was blown up on the RCD highway. Police

Three rockets were fired on the Frontier Corps (FC) fort in the Mashkey area of Awaran district.

April 3

A watchman of the Quetta Electric Supply Company was killed when he struck a landmine during the repair work of the transmission lines damaged in subversive acts in Bolan district. Four towers of 220 KV and 132 KV transmission line were blown up in Bolan on April 1, causing power suspension in over 18 districts of Balochistan.

April 9

At least four SF personnel were killed and two others wounded in an ambush by insurgents near the Tartani area of Kohlu district. SFs retaliated and claimed to have arrested at least 12 armed insurgents, four of whom had been injured in an encounter. A caller identifying himself as Beeberg Baloch and a spokesman for the banned Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed that 14 SF personnel were killed in the attack.

April 10

A 75-year-old man was killed and four SF personnel and six other people were injured in three landmine explosions in the Sui area.

Three bomb blasts were reported from Khuzdar and a rocket attack targeted a SFs checkpoint in the Mand area.

The Airport Security Force (ASF) at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore (capital of Punjab province) seized 14 kilograms of explosive material in a package being sent via courier from Karachi to Quetta. The ASF arrested an employee, identified as Muhammad Naeen, of the private courier company who had brought the packet to the airport.

Frontier Corps personnel arrested three people at Taftan near the Iran border and seized an unspecified quantity of weapons from their possession.

April 11

A house was attacked with a hand-grenade in the Mach town, some 70km east of provincial capital Quetta, and two powerful explosions were heard, one in Wadh and the other in Mastung town. However, there was no loss of life or injuries reported.

April 13

Three SF personnel were killed when a landmine exploded in the Tartani Manjara area of Kohlu district. Official sources said the SF personnel were clearing the area of mines for construction of a road when one of them ran over a landmine planted by the insurgents.

SFs foiled an attempt by the insurgents to blow up a 12-inch diameter gas pipeline in the Sui area.

SF personnel defused a rocket in the Mand area that was to be reportedly fired on a check-post of the FC. They also seized 23 rockets from the Sui area during a search operation.

April 16

Suspected insurgents fired rockets at a Frontier Constabulary check post at Kohlu in the Balochistan province. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Power supply to the Guddu power plant from Uch was suspended as two towers of the transmission line were blown up near Dera Allahyar. Police sources said explosive devices went off near two pylons of the 220kV transmission line near Dera Allahyar bypass in the evening.

The Quetta Electric Supply Company is reported to have restored power supply to 18 districts of Balochistan after repairing 11 huge towers of the main transmission lines blown up in the Bolan district on March 27.

April 18

A civilian was killed after he stepped over a landmine planted by unknown people in the Pathar Nullah area of the Dera Bugti district. Arif Khan Bugti, Superintendent of Agriculture Department of Dera Bugti, was on his way home when the incident occurred.

Police arrested 22 insurgents from the Kikat area of Bolan district and recovered an unspecified quantity of illegal arms and ammunition.

April 19

Security agencies arrested 12 people suspected of abducting government officials during raids in Bolan and Sui. The suspects were arrested from various areas of Bolan, Punier, Mach and Abgum.

Troops dug out six kilograms of explosive material from a location in Sui.

April 20

A civilian, identified as Mohammad Murad Bugti, was killed and two others injured in a landmine blast in the Loti gas field area of Dera Bugti district.

Rail traffic between the provincial capital Quetta and the rest of Pakistan was restored after the railway track that was blown up on April 19-night was repaired.

April 22

Three children died in an explosion in the Khad Kocha area of Mastung district. Police said two motorcyclists hurled an explosive device into the house of one Habibullah Lehri. It exploded killing his 12-year-old daughter Shakara and two sons, five-year old Imdadullah and two-year old Nasibullah.

April 23

A family planning office was partially damaged in a bomb blast in the Kalat town of Balochistan. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Hundreds of telephone connections remained inoperative in Kalat after suspected insurgents blew up two phone company switch cabinets on April 22-night near the local exchange.

April 25

One person was wounded in a landmine explosion in the Denari Pat area of Dera Bugti in Balochistan.

Police arrested a suspected insurgent, identified as Dilshad Bugti, from the Sui area and seized six kilograms of explosive substance from his possession.

Frontier Corps personnel are reported to have seized an unspecified quantity of arms and ammunition from Dera Bugti.

April 27

A portion of the boundary wall of the Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences in Quetta was damaged and the windowpanes of the nearby houses were destroyed when a bomb exploded at 9:15 pm. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

May 2

A portion of a gas pipeline in the Kharotabad suburbs of Quetta was damaged by an explosion and gas supply was suspended to the adjoining areas.

May 5

Unidentified insurgents fired four rockets at a SF check post near Kohlu.

May 6

At least five SF personnel were wounded in a mortar attack in the Tartani area of Kohlu district. A caller identifying himself as Bebarg Baloch, spokesman for the BLA, claimed that over a dozen security personnel had died in the attack.

May 7

Two Frontier Corps personnel sustained injuries when their water-carrying donkey hit a landmine near a gas field in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti district.

An intelligence agency has recently released Fahad Bugti, the grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the slain insurgent leader of Balochistan. Fahad’s name was included in a list of the missing people prepared by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Fahad was arrested from Karachi, shortly after the killing of Akbar Bugti on August 26, 2006.

May 9

A bomb exploded near the residence of Livestock Minister Mir Abdul Qadoos Bizenjo in Quetta. Police said that windowpanes of the minister’s and adjacent houses were damaged in the blast. The minister and his family were not present in the house at the time of the blast. It was the second bomb blast near the residence of Bizenjo. The police are reported to have defused another bomb in the same area.

May 10

One civilian, identified as Didar Hussain, was injured in a blast near a vocational training school in Sibi. Sometimes later another blast took place near a seminary.

Suspected insurgents fired two rockets at the Maharullah village near Dera Allahyar. One of rockets damaged the house of Tar Mohammad.

Six rockets were also fired in the mountain area of Dera Bugti district.

Two bomb blasts were reported from near Dera Bugti.

A powerful explosion occurred near the Post Office chowk in Khuzdar.

A caller identifying himself as Bebarg Baloch claimed that the banned Baloch Liberation Army had attacked a camp of security forces in the Marri area killing six soldiers. Official sources, however, denied the claim.

May 11

One security force personnel, identified as Mohammad Shahid, sustained injuries in a landmine explosion in the Gandoi area of Dera Bugti district.

May 14

Four people were wounded in a bomb explosion in the border town of Chaman. Police sources said that a trailer coming from Karachi was carrying two road rollers to Kandahar. When it was about to reach the Frontier Corps Fort, an explosion occurred in one of the road rollers, injuring four civilians. The driver of the trailer, Najibullah, and another man were arrested in connection with the blast.

There was a complete province-wide strike in Balochistan, and markets, banks restaurants and government offices remained closed in the capital Quetta during a strike called by opposition parties and lawyers’ bodies in protest against the violence in Karachi.

May 16

Personnel of the Chagai militia, a wing of the Frontier Corps, seized a large cache of arms and ammunition from the Manjro Chal nullah, near the Afghan border.

May 17

Insurgents are reported to have blown up a 132-KV power supply pylon of the Sibi-Harnai transmission line near the Kalatak area, disrupting electricity supply to the Harnai area.

May 21

A group of armed men abducted two Patwaris (revenue officials) of the Balochistan government from Senheri area, close to the Sindh-Balochistan border.

May 22

Two people, identified as Ghulam Nabi Magsi and Mohammad Ibrahim Mengal, were killed and three others sustained injuries in a bomb explosion in the industrial area of Hub. According to police, the bomb was planted at a bus stop close to a bridge on the RCD highway in the industrial town.

May 25

The Frontier Corps (FC) seized a huge quantity of narcotics and ammunition during raids conducted in the Chagai district. FC personnel had moved into the Shabian area close to the Pakistan-Iran border on a tip-off that drug and arms were being smuggled into the country from Afghanistan’s Helmand province, sources said. The troops subsequently launched a search operation and recovered 990kg morphine, 200kg hashish and a large number of rockets dumped in mountains. However, no arrests were made.

May 26

Police arrested two suspected members of the banned Baloch Liberation Army in Khuzdar and seized arms and ammunition from them. Deputy Inspector-General Police Ghulam Shabir Sheikh said at a press conference that police raided a house on the outskirts of Khuzdar after receiving information about the presence of the suspects there. Sheikh informed that hand-grenades, AK-47 rifles, ammunition, 20 cell-phone SIMs and a satellite phone were recovered from their possession.

May 27

Police impounded a car laden with 25 kilograms of high explosives near the official residences of senior administrative officers in Khuzdar. "The car was rigged with high explosives to blow up residences of government officials," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Kalat Range) Ghulam Shabir said at a press conference.

May 28

Three civilians were injured in six separate bomb blasts in Quetta. The intervals between the blasts ranged from 12 to 15 minutes. The first blast occurred at Satellite Town in the house of a retired health inspector, the second one at a warehouse where three labourers were injured. The third and fourth blasts occurred in Qili Hussaini and Qili Mubarik. Two more blasts were heard, but their locations could not be determined. The Baloch Liberation Front claimed responsibility for these blasts.

May 29

Four persons, including a wanted insurgent, were killed and seven others sustained injuries in a shootout between SF personnel and armed men in the Dera Allahyar area of Jaffarabad district in Balochistan. When a security convoy was passing through Dera Allahyar, armed men in a car reportedly opened fire killing a man accompanying the SF personnel. The SFs retaliated and insurgent commander, Musa Rahija Bugti, Nari Bugti, a former commander of Nawab Akbar Bugti, and two other people were killed in the crossfire. Nari Bugti had surrendered to the government and was working with the SFs. The two others killed were identified as Nazir Ahmed, a soft drink vendor, and Sach Anand, a shopkeeper.

May 30

Security agencies arrested 11 insurgents and recovered an unspecified cache of arms and ammunition during a search operation in a village near Dera Allahyar area of the Jaffarabad district. The suspects were reportedly involved in subversive activities in the Nasirabad and Jaffarabad districts. Official sources said the village belonged to Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, a grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.

May 31

Suspected insurgents blew up an electric tower in Kohlu, causing suspension of electricity to nearby areas. Several kilograms of explosive material were used to blow up the tower in Maywand.

June 3

Police arrested a suspected terrorist, Babar Bugti, and seized three kilos of explosives and two detonators from him.

June 5

An oil tanker carrying fuel for the allied forces fighting in Afghanistan was blown up in Chaman, near the Afghan border.

June 6

Police arrested three people from the Patel Bagh and the Airport Road areas of Quetta and seized explosive material from them.

June 8

The Balochistan Government held the Hamid Karzai-led Afghan Government responsible for providing shelter to Baloch separatist insurgents, which they believe was "clear evidence of Afghan involvement in the instability created in Balochistan".

June 11

Police arrested a militant from the Sui area of Dera Bugti district and recovered two kilograms of explosives. Official sources said police raided the area and arrested Rehmatullah Chakrani Bugti, who is allegedly involved in attacking gas pipelines.

June 12

Three police personnel and a civilian were injured in a hand grenade attack on a hotel at Golli Mar Chowk in Quetta.

June 13

Police at Sui arrested four alleged terrorists for their involvement in providing arms to militant camps and attacks on government installations. A huge cache of explosives, rockets, mortal shells and other ammunition was recovered from their possession.

June 14

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yusuf during his meeting with Boucher in the provincial capital Quetta dispelled the impression that Quetta was the Taliban headquarters.

June 15

The outlawed BLA has claimed responsibility for the ambush at Zarghoon Road in Quetta. Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Jam Muhammad Yousuf said that a crackdown would soon be launched on elements behind the ambush. The Secretary-General of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal group), Habib Jalib, claimed that police had arrested over a dozen activists of his party, including three senior leaders - Agha Hasan Baloch, Musa Khan Baloch and Jahangir Baloch. He said that police raided houses in Killi Qambrani and in the outskirts of Quetta, and arrested 16 leaders and workers.

June 17

Unidentified armed men abducted two police personnel at gunpoint from the Nuhasar area.

June 19

Security agencies arrested 10 suspected militants from Dalbandin and Sibi. Troops raided a place in the outskirts of Dalbandin after receiving information about the presence of militants involved in subversion activities. "Seven people have been arrested in the raid without any resistance from them," sources said. Troops also arrested three people in Sibi.

June 22

At least four people were injured when an unidentified man lobbed a hand grenade at a barber’s shop on the Prince Road in Quetta.

Two bomb explosions were reported from the coastal areas of Pasni. While the first bomb exploded near the Pasni Tehsil Council Building, the second bomb exploded in the courtyard of a hospital. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported in these explosions.

June 25

Power supply to a vast area in the Bolan district was cut after two bombs, planted under two pylons of the main transmission line near Mach, exploded. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

June 26

Unidentified assailants killed two people in the Satellite Town area of Quetta. Amir Hussain Mughal and Rizwan had come to Quetta from Mandi Bahauddin on June 25-night. The police are reported to have described the incident a terrorist act.

June 27

One soldier was killed and three others were injured when their vehicle hit a landmine planted by suspected tribal militants in the Dera Bugti district.

June 28

Four tribesmen were wounded in a landmine explosion in the Dera Bugti district.

June 30

Three explosions occurred in the Kalat and Khuzdar towns. A blast near the Election Commission’s office in Khuzdar destroyed windowpanes of nearby houses. Another blast was reported from Khuzdar’s Mir Ibrahim Zehri area. In Kalat, an explosive device planted close to the office of the Building and Road Department went off, damaging a wall of the office.

July 1

The Frontier Corps personnel raided a building at Rekugarg in the Kharan district of Balochistan and seized four anti-tank mines, 30 rocket propelled grenade rounds, 155 mortars, 8,000 bullets, 93 fuses and 12 packets of explosives.

July 3

Five security force personnel were wounded in a landmine explosion at Dera Bugti. Official sources said a powerful landmine was planted in the Maro area of Dera Bugti that exploded when a vehicle of the Frontier Corps collided with it.

July 4

Two bomb blasts occurred at Bostan and Pasni. Police sources said a home-made bomb was planted in the courtyard of the government civil dispensary in Bostan. The blast destroyed a portion of the dispensary. Sources added that an explosion also occurred at an unknown location in Pasni. No casualty was reported in these blasts.

July 5

A traffic police constable was killed and four people, including another constable, were wounded when a bomb exploded in the Dera Allahyar town of Jaffarabad district. The locally-made explosive device was reportedly fixed to a bicycle parked near a traffic booth at Subatpur Chowk.

July 6

FC personnel on seized a cache of arms, ammunition and drugs from the Landhi area of Nokundi. During the search of a suspected vehicle, FC personnel seized 10 hand grenades, 12 rockets, two AK-47 rifles, hundreds of rounds, 382 kilograms of hashish and 90 kilograms of morphine.

Police arrested Mir Rauf Mengal, a former Member of National Assembly and a central Balochistan National Party leader, in the Khuzdar district under the preventive laws. Mengal was reportedly at a relief camp set up by the BNP to collect donations for the flood victims when police arrested him.

July 7

Frontier Corps personnel arrested a suspected militant from the Sambaza area of Zhob district and recovered over three dozen bombs from him.

July 8

Four senior associates of Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar were arrested from two areas in Quetta, said an Afghan intelligence source. Those arrested included two men responsible for Mullah Omar’s letters and communications — Mullah Jahangir and Mullah Mohid, according to Daily Times. The others in detention are Mullah Nazir, former Taliban commander in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, and Mullah Tahir, the former Taliban commander of Kabul.

July 9

A power transmission line was blown up at Kohlu suspending power supply to Kohlu and other areas. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

July 14

One FC personal was killed and three others injured in an ambush in the Balida area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. The FC personal were busy in relief activities when they were attacked.

July 16

The FC personnel seized a cache of arms and ammunition near Chaman. FC troops raided the hilly area of Roghani and recovered five 7MM rifles, four AK-47 rifles, one SMG, 11 hand-grenades and hundreds of rounds of different calibre weapons. They said the weapons were being smuggled from across the border to be sold in Quetta. However, no one was arrested in this connection.

July 17

Unidentified assailants shot dead two police personnel, including one identified as Hawaldar Allah Dad, in the Bolan district, SHO Dhadar Sadiq said. The SHO and three subordinates suffered severe injuries when their vehicle overturned as a result of the firing.

July 19

22 civilians and seven police officers were killed and around 50 people injured in a suicide car bomb attack at the Gadani Bus Stop in the industrial town of Hub. Inspector General of Police Tariq Masood Khosa said, "It was a suicide attack that was targeted at Chinese engineers working in Balochistan… It is premature to say who masterminded the blast. One can’t say if it was to avenge the military operation in Jamia Hafsa or was carried out by Baloch insurgents or Taliban elements. All options are under consideration." Local police sources said that a 50-kg bomb had been fixed inside the car. The blast also damaged 10 cars and temporarily disrupted the power supply to most of Hub.

July 20

Two militant commanders from the Marri tribe, Daula Khan Marri and Kamal Khan Marri, and their 100 armed supporters, who had been fighting the security forces in Balochistan, surrendered their weapons before the Commander of the Southern Command, Lt-Gen Khalid Shamim Wyne. The commanders reportedly announced their full support for development schemes launched by the government in the Marri area.

July 21

A hand grenade was hurled into the house of one Mohammad Rafiq in the Mano Jan Road area. However, no casualty was reported.

July 22

Rail traffic remained suspended for several hours after the main railway line linking Quetta with the rest of Pakistan was blown up in the New Sariab area.

Security agencies arrested 12 Afghan nationals from the Nokundi area of Chagai district for illegally crossing into Pakistani territory without any travel documents.

July 24

Taliban leader Abdullah Mehsud blew himself up to avoid arrest after he was surrounded by security forces in a house at Zhob. Police arrested three of Mehsud’s accomplices, including his brother Abdul Rehman Mehsud. Anti-terrorist Force (ATF) commandoes raided the house of Sheikh Ayub Mandokhel, a district leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Maulana Fazlur Rehman faction), before morning prayers after learning that Mehsud was inside. "The ATF asked Abdullah Mehsud to surrender and take off his shirt when they had almost overpowered him. However, he refused to surrender and blew himself up with explosives," said an unnamed source in the provincial capital Quetta. The ATF also arrested Ayub’s younger brother, Sheikh Azam, and his son, Sheikh Sheryar.

July 25

A former Taliban commander, Mullah Naimatullah Nurzai, was shot dead by two motorcycle borne assailants near Boghara village near the border town of Chaman. Naimatullah was special assistant to the Governor of Khost during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and he also fought against the Northern Alliance as a Taliban commander. After the fall of the Taliban, he came back to Chaman and was living in Boghra village. His brother, Mullah Aminullah Nurzai, is reportedly still affiliated with the Taliban and was still fighting inside Afghanistan against NATO forces.

Three members of a team of a private company were shot dead and two wounded by unidentified armed men hiding in the mountains of Zehri area. The members of the team were conducting a survey on the link road between Zehri and the main highway.

Unidentified assailants shot dead two Uzbek nationals, identified as Jumma Khan and Ali Murad, in the Zarahband area of Chaman district.

Police in Quetta arrested Zahoor alias Choota Waqar, an activist of the proscribed Sunni group LeJ. Zahoor belongs to Dera Murad Jamali and is wanted for the killing of important Shiite personalities of Quetta, and two bomb blasts in Shia places of worship.

July 26

Militants fired rockets at a Frontier Corps (FC) check-post in the Dera Bugti area. Officials said the FC personnel also fired rockets at the positions of militants. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

July 27

Abdul Raziq Bugti, spokesperson for the Balochistan government and a prominent politician, was assassinated in a high-security zone of Quetta by unidentified gunmen. The BLA claimed responsibility for the incident which occurred on the Zarghoon road, half a kilometre away from the Governor House and Balochistan Secretariat. 55-year old Raziq Bugti was on his way home from the PTV Quetta Station, when unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire on his vehicle, killing him on the spot.

July 29

Police arrested three suspects in connection with grenade attacks at Khuzdar. Police raided the hostel of degree college Khuzdar and arrested a student and two other people along with a grenade and some arms.

Police reportedly detained over 60 suspects in connection with the July 27-assassination of Balochistan Government spokesperson Raziq Bugti.

July 31

A locally-made bomb exploded near the boundary wall of a private factory in the industrial town of Hub. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Two powerful explosions were heard in the Khuzdar and Wadh areas. No casualties have been ascertained.

Suspected militants fired rockets at a check post of the Frontier Corps in the Mach area. Two rockets were landed and exploded close to the post without causing any damage.

August 1

Security agencies arrested two al Qaeda suspects from Zhob. Sources said the two suspects, identified as Mohammad Naeem and Abid Khan from the Punjab province, had entered Zhob from Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP.

August 7

Suspected insurgents fired a rocket which landed near a camp of the Frontier Corps at Mand in the Turbat district. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

August 8

Four militants were killed and the commandant of Makran Scouts (a wing of the Frontier Corps) and another security force personnel injured in an encounter in the Mand area of Turbat district, close to the border with Iran. A team of Makran Scout was reportedly conducting a survey of losses caused by last month’s floods and cyclone in the Mand area when they were fired upon. A local official said the attack was allegedly carried out by close relatives of a leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army.

August 10

Security force personnel arrested an al Qaeda suspect from Taftan, a small town at the border with Iran. Officials said that the suspect was an Iraqi national identified as Qasim Hameed Yasin. He was arrested after he crossed into the country from Iran through an infrequent route. A large amount of cash in foreign currency was recovered from his possession.

August 12

One person was killed and three others sustained injuries in a bomb blast in the industrial town of Hub. The blast also damaged an electricity pylon, disrupting power supplies to Hub and the nearby town of Uthal.

Three people, including the two police personnel, were wounded in Quetta when motorcyclists lobbed a grenade at them.

A customs official and his wife were wounded in a grenade attack in the Dera Bugti district.

Two rockets were fired at a paramilitary police post in the Bolan area. However, no one was injured.

August 13

Police said two persons lobbed a hand-grenade in the house of a retired government employee at Kalat Street in Quetta. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Two more explosions were heard in two different areas of Quetta, but their locations could not be ascertained. Three powerful explosions were reported from the Khuzdar Township. However, Police did not confirm these blasts.

August 15

The BLA claimed that it had killed two security force personnel in the Dera Bugti district. The two soldiers, Mumtaz Ahmed and Mukhtar Ahmed, died when insurgents fired four rockets targeting a patrolling team in the Sui police area. "We accept responsibility for the attack on the occupying forces on Baloch land. More attacks will follow this," said Basham Baloch, a BLA spokesman.

August 16

A mob attacked a police station in the Musakhel township, and freed two suspected Taliban militants. The assailants also injured two police personnel. According to official sources, the two detained people had come from North Waziristan and were staying in a mosque. They were brought to the police station but a large number of people gathered outside and started protesting against the arrest. When police tried to disperse them, the protesters stormed into the police station and opened fire, the sources added. Two police personnel, Toor Khan and Nasibullah, sustained bullet injuries in the incident.

August 17

SF personnel arrested 60 militants and recovered arms and explosives in the Sui area of Dera Bugti district. Officials said that the SFs had launched a search operation in the Pat Feeder area of Sui after two soldiers were killed in the area two days ago and arrested 60 militants. They included 10 people wanted by police in bomb blasts, rocket attacks and other criminal activities. Ten 10 AK-47, 70 landmines and 30 kilograms of high explosive material were reportedly recovered from their possession.

August 19

At least two rockets were fired at security forces’ check-posts in the Kahan area. No loss of life or property was reported.

Security force personnel defused a bomb on the Mawand Road.

August 20

SFs killed a militant commander and arrested 15 suspects at Sui in the Dera Bugti district. They also recovered 15 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, five Kalashnikovs, five kilograms of explosives and hundreds of bullets from the militants’ possession.

The FC personnel rescued 21 abducted Iranians from the captivity of Jundallah and arrested 17 militants along with a cache of weapons. One abducted person was killed and nine others sustained injuries during the raid and subsequent exchange of fire in the Mand area. The FC personnel freed the Iranian nationals, who were abducted across the border on August 19, in an operation conducted immediately after they were being taken to the Pakistani territory from Negur area of south-eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran.

August 21

Another bomb blast caused damages to a wall and windowpanes of the house of a resident Malik Bangalzai in the same area.

August 22

Police arrested three persons, Attaullah, Lawang Khan and Abdullah, and recovered a Kalashnikov, three pistols and thousands of bullets in the Noshki district.

August 23

Punjabi-speaking hair salon owners in Quetta said that they felt insecure after attacks on their shops in the recent months and demanded the government provide them security. An unnamed Barbershop Owners’ Association member said they were facing security problems due to their ethnic background. "Since Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing last year, more than 12 attacks have been made on barbershops. The number of attacks in interior Balochistan is higher," he said, adding, around 800 barbers worked in Quetta and that most of them hailed from Punjab. "Business is affected badly, as workers are fleeing the city in order to avoid ethnic attack," he added further.

August 24

The rail link between Quetta and rest of the country was disrupted when a portion of the main railway track was blown up in the Sariab area.

August 26

A complete strike was observed in Quetta and some other cities and towns of Balochistan and at least eight people were injured in a clash with police in Wadh area, on the first death anniversary of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. However, the strike call given by the Jamhoori Watan Party, BNP-Mengal, National Party and other nationalist groups and student organisations reportedly evoked a mixed response in the interior of the province. The strike was reportedly observed in Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Sibi, Dera Allahyar, Dera Murad Jamali, Hub, Uthal, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Wadh, Kharan, Dalbandin, Nushki, Taftan, Dhadar, Mach and other Baloch areas of the province. However, the strike call was ignored in northern parts of the province, including Pishin, Chaman, Zhob, Loralai, Qila Saifullah, Qila Abdullah and some other towns.

August 28

Reports form Khuzdar, Kalat and Noshki stated that police arrested 17 suspects accused of involvement in bomb blasts and rocket firing.

August 28

Security force personnel arrested two suspected members of the banned BLA from the border town of Chaman. Habibullah and Ismail Baloch had reportedly crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan through an infrequent route and were arrested by troops deployed in the area.

August 29

Unidentified militants fired eight rockets on a camp of Mekran Scouts, a wing of the Frontier Corps, in the Panjgur district. However, there was no loss of life or injuries.

August 30

A large cache of weapons was recovered in a raid on a fugitive camp in the Kohlu area.

August 31

Frontier Corps personnel arrested seven men for their suspected involvement in rocket attacks, bomb explosions and other subversive activities from Dalbandin area in the Chagai district.

September 2

A telephone digital box was destroyed when an explosive device went off in the Munno Jan area, suspending service to dozens of phone connections. Adjacent shops were also damaged, but no casualty was reported.

September 3

Another explosion was reported from the Mastung town. However, no casualty was reported in these incidents. A telephone exchange near the offices of the District Coordination Officer of Mastung was blown up, adversely affecting hundreds of telephone lines in the area.

September 4

A portion of railway tracks in the Darakhshan region of Sariab was blown up, suspending the train service between provincial capital Quetta and the rest of the country for several hours. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

September 5

A bomb blast occurred near a school in the Mastung town on September. However, no casualty was reported.

September 7

Two bomb blasts occurred in Quetta. The first blast was caused by an explosive device planted in a dustbin on the Sabzal Road while the second explosion was reported from a nearby area. However, no loss of life or property was reported.

September 13

A man, Raza Mohammad, was killed and four others sustained in injuries in a landmine explosion in the Kandhkot area near Mundhrani Pat village on the Sindh-Balochistan border.

September 17

Two security force personnel were killed and four others injured in a rocket attack by militants on a security forces convoy at Talli village near Sibbi town.

September 19

Unconfirmed reports said that the walls of the Government Boys High School in Pasni were damaged in a powerful explosion. However, no casualty was reported.

September 23

A bomb blast occurred in satellite town near Muhammadi Masjid (mosque) in Quetta. No loss of life or injury was reported.

September 26

The Superintendent of Police (Investigation Cell), Syed Sharyab, and his two guards died when their vehicle was ambushed in the Samungli area of Quetta. His driver and security in charge of the Pakistan Television Centre (Quetta) were wounded in the incident. The proscribed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.

September 29

Two Frontier Corps personnel were injured when motorbike-borne assailants opened fire on them in the Mastung area.

September 30

A bomb blast occurred in the coastal town of Gwadar. Police sources said a bomb which had been planted near the office of the Anti-Narcotic Force exploded in the night. However, no casualty was reported.

October 1

Unidentified miscreants blew up two electricity towers of 500 kilovolt transmission line carrying electricity from HUBCO power plant to Jamshoro in the Hub industrial area. Official sources said that the miscreants had planted eight bombs out of which six exploded while two were defused by the police. It was reportedly the second attempt to disrupt the transmission line in the last two days. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

October 3

Two militants belonging to the Bugti tribe, identified as Khuda Bakhsh Chakrani Bugti and Nabi Bakhsh Chakrani Bugti, were killed and three persons, including a Frontier Corps soldier, were injured after security forces clashed with militants at Khalani village in the Jaffarabad district. Seven tribesmen were arrested and an unspecified quantity of arms, including rocket launchers, rockets, hand-grenades, automatic rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition, was recovered after the clash.

October 4-5

At least one militant was killed and four others injured in clashes between SFs and militants in the Tartani and Karmo Wadh areas of the Kohlu district. Official sources said that SFs launched an operation after militants had attacked two check-posts using rockets and other heavy weapons.

October 5

Gas supply was disrupted to the main PPL gas purification plant in Sui from Pir Koh and Loti gas fields after a pipeline in the Mat area of Dera Bugti district was blown up.

October 7

A powerful explosion occurred near the house of Home Minister Mir Shoaib Nausherwani at Kharan. The minister was not in the house and no loss of life or injuries was reported.

October 8

Beberg Baloch, a spokesman for the banned Balochistan Liberation Army in a telephone call accepted responsibility for the grenade attacks on a PML-Q leader in Khuzdar and a police official in Kalat.

October 10

Unidentified gunmen ambushed the car of a prominent ruling Pakistan Muslim League leader, Sher Jan Marri, and shot him dead in Quetta, senior police official Qazi Abdul Wahid said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing. Marri was a former deputy mayor of Kohlu district.

October 13

Two rockets were fired in Kohlu without causing any damage.

October 16

Supply of gas to the main Sui purification plant from the Pir Koh gas field was disrupted when militants blew up an 18-inch-diameter gas pipeline near Dera Bugti. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. The Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the incident.

October 20

At least eight persons, including two women and a child, were killed and 28 others injured when a powerful bomb planted in a pickup vehicle exploded at a bus stand in the main market of Dera Bugti. Mir Liaquat Bugti, son of Mir Ahemdan Bugti, a government ally and chieftain of the Raijha Bugti tribe, who was the main target of the bomb blast survived the incident as his car crossed the target spot only a few seconds before the explosion, local officials said. The banned Baloch Republican Army claimed responsibility for the incident.

October 22

Five local Taliban suspects were arrested in the Gul Kach area of Zhob district. Official sources said that Frontier Corps personnel deployed in the area adjacent to the North West Frontier Province intercepted a vehicle that was coming from Dera Ismail Khan. During search, the personnel found arms and ammunition in the vehicle. The sources said that the arrested people belonged to the Mehsud tribe and might have links with the Baitullah Mehsud group. They were identified as Rehman Gul, Abdul Rehman, Asghar Khan Zaman Gul and Rehan Gul.

October 23

Three suspected militants were killed and another was injured in an encounter with the SFs in the Kurdan area near Dera Bugti. SF personnel also arrested two militants and seized a cache of arms and ammunition, including AK-47 rifles, rocket launcher, rockets, grenade and hundreds of rounds. The slain militants were identified as Saeedi Bugti, Mitha Khan Bugti and Yar Khan Bugti, who the SFs claimed were wanted in various cases of bomb blasts, attacks on the troops and explosions targeting gas pipelines and other installations.

October 24

A tractor-trolley carrying 10 people was on its way to Dera Bugti when it hit a landmine in the Tali Mat area, some 10km west of Dera Bugti. One person was killed on the spot.

In a landmine blast, a young man was killed when his motorbike hit the landmine near the Pat Feeder area of the Sui sub-division.

October 28

Gas supply was suspended to the Uch power plant in Dera Murad Jamali after a pipeline connecting the Uch gas field with the power plant was blown. According to official sources, armed militants planted explosives under the 18-inch diameter pipeline in the Pat Feeder area of Nasirabad district. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Police arrested two suspected militants, identified as Sona Khan Bugti and Sadiq Bugti, from the Pat Feeder and Uch areas of Dera Bugti district and seized illegal arms, ammunition and anti-personnel mines.

November 1

In the Pir Suri area of Dera Bugti, two civilians suffered injuries after their vehicle struck a landmine.

November 2

Five persons including a child were injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in Nilagh, under Dera Bugti Sadar police station.

November 9

Rail link of Quetta with the rest of the country is disrupted for the second time in 24 hours as the main tracks were blown up in the Dashat area of Mastung district. Police arrested a man who was allegedly injured while planting the bomb. Police informed that the suspect, Abdul Razaq, is a railway employee.

November 12

The Agricultural Research Institute Principal Bashir Baloch was shot at and injured by unidentified attackers.

November 14

In Khuzdar, the district office of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League was damaged in an explosion. However, no casualty was reported.

November 18

Four security force personnel were injured when militants attacked their convoy between Sui and Dera Bugti. According to official sources, the convoy was going from Kashmore to the Loti gas field when it was attacked with rockets and automatic weapons near the Tali-Mat area. The militants escaped when the security force personnel returned fire.

November 20

The Frontier Corps seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition during a raid in Chagai. The weapons had been stored in a hideout in Karawan, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and included 6,000 rounds of anti-aircraft gun, 40 mortar bombs, 25 rockets, eight hand grenades and three anti-tank mines. Official sources said that no arrests were made as armed men guarding the consignment escaped across the border.

November 21

Train services between Quetta and the rest of the country were suspended after a track was blown up near Sibi.

November 22

More than a hundred protesters were arrested across Balochistan as the province observed a complete shutter-down strike against the killing of Nawabzada Balach Marri, a leader of outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army.

November 23

Three police personnel and a minor girl were killed in three separate incidents claimed by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), while several vehicles and official buildings were attacked as protests against the killing of Balach Marri, leader of the BLA, continued for the third day.

November 24

Another explosion occurred near a bank in the Mastung Town, damaging windowpanes of nearby buildings. No casualties were reported in the incident.

November 25

Police claimed foiling an attempt of sabotage in Khuzdar by defusing a bomb on a bicycle parked at the Chandni Chowk area. They also found six kilograms of explosives strapped to the bike.

November 26

A powerful explosion occurred in Gwadar, injuring a civilian.

November 27

A powerful blast occurred in the Spni road area near the Ayub Stadium. However, no loss of life or damage to property was reported.

November 28

Gunmen ambushed a paramilitary convoy in the Panjgur district, killing three soldiers and injuring five others.

December 3

Six students of a seminary near Qila Saifullah were killed and four others injured in a bomb blast. The management of the Jamia Imdadul Alum Mullah Bakhtair Adda suspects that an Afghan national who had stayed in the seminary overnight might have a hand in the explosion. The explosive device had been planted in a room of the seminary. Police sources quoted the seminary's management as saying that an Afghan national had requested permission to spend December 2-night there and left early in the morning. Qila Saifullah is approximately 150 kilometers from the provincial capital Quetta.

December 4

One Frontier Corps personnel, Khan Zaman, was killed and a Balochistan Constabulary soldier, Ali Mohammad, sustained injuries in an attack on their check-post in the Hudda area of Quetta.

A militant were killed and two soldiers wounded in the Dashat area of the Turbat district. Two armed men were later arrested from the incident site.

Police arrested a suspect in connection with a bomb blast that killed six people in a seminary near Qila Saifullah on December 3. The suspect, Abdul Khaliq, who spent a night in the Jamia Imdadul Alum Mullah Bakhtair Adda seminary was arrested from Garung on the Qila Saifullah-Loralai national highway on December 3-night.

December 5

A spokesman of the banned Baloch Liberation Army, Beebarg Baloch, claimed that its leader Balach Marri was killed in Balochistan at Sarlat area in the Naushki district. While declining to give any details of the killing, he said that security forces had started military activity in the Naushki area before November 21 and that aerial facility, including unmanned detective planes, were sought.

December 6

One trooper was killed and four others sustained injuries in Dera Bugti. A remote-controlled bomb reportedly exploded when a truck carrying security force personnel reached Sangseela, about eight Km from Dera Bugti. A convoy of Frontier Corps consisting of three vehicles was en route to Dera Bugti when one vehicle blew up.

A house was attacked with a hand-grenade in the Chandni Chowk area of Khuzdar. However, no casualty was reported in the blast.

British police have arrested two supporters of an outlawed movement of Balochistan, a human rights campaigner said in London on December 6. Scotland Yard said the two men, aged 25 and 39, were detained during early morning raids on December 4 in north and north-west London on suspicion of the "commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." Activist Peter Tatchell informed that the duo were lawful supporters of the movement and feared they could be extradited to Pakistan to face a possible death sentence. Tatchell named the men as Faiz Mohammed Baloch - with whom he has worked on human rights campaigns - and Nawabzada Hyrbiyar Marri.

December 7

A militant was killed and 30 others were arrested from village Goth Hajwani in the Dera Bugti district during a search operation by the troops. Security forces (SFs) conducted a search operation in the area during which the militants opened fire on them. In retaliation, the SFs killed one militant while 30 others were arrested.

A civilian sustained injuries in a bomb blast in a sweet shop on Jinnah Road in the provincial capital Quetta.

December 9

Security forces arrested 21 suspected members of the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army during search operations in Kohlu and some areas of Dera Bugti. Five armed men were arrested on December 8-night and 16 on December 9.

Security forces also destroyed a camp of the militants in the Kahan area and seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, including long- and short-range missiles, rocket launchers and other weapons.

December 10

One civilian, Mohammad Shafi, was killed when a landmine exploded near Dera Allahyar in the Jaffarabad district.

Four Frontier Corps personnel were injured after their vehicle hit a landmine in the Toba Nelegh area of Dera Bugti district.

Security forces on the second day of the operation raided a number of areas of Balochistan and arrested 16 militants after facing some resistance. They also seized rocket launchers, mortar shells, anti-personnel mines, hand grenades, machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in an operation conducted in the Khahan area of Kohlu.

December 12

The Gwadar Deputy Superintendent of Police, Abdul Rab Lasi, was killed in a hand grenade attack at his residence in the Hub city, while two Balochistan Constabulary personnel, Ismail Khan and Muhammad Yaqoob, were shot dead in the provincial capital Quetta. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the second incident.

A hand grenade was hurled on a hostel of the Midwife Training School in Khuzdar and a vehicle of the Frontier Corps escaped a bomb attack in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti district. No casualty was, however, reported.

A boy was killed while nine other persons, including a police constable, were injured in a bomb blast on the Abdul Sattar Road of Quetta.

Separately in the capital, a civilian sustained injuries in a landmine blast while another landmine was defused by the police.

A 10-year-old boy sustained injuries in a landmine blast in the Dashat-i-Goran area of Dera Bugti district.

Police in Dera Bugti foiled attempts to blow up a gas pipeline and a pylon of high power transmission line by defusing explosive devices.

December 19

Two pro-government Bugti tribesmen were killed and five injured when a vehicle was blown up with a remote-control bomb in Bekar area, some 122km from Dera Bugti town. District Police Officer Najam Tareen confirmed that the assailants’ main target was Wadera Ali Mohammad Masoori Bugti, the father of Mir Tariq Hussain Masoori Bugti, a candidate for the BP-24 Dera Bugti seat. However, Mir Tariq’s father survived the attack and two cousins were killed.

December 20

In Sui, police defused a bomb which was planted near a technical training centre.

December 21

Suspected insurgents fired two rockets targeting the Frontier Corps camp in Kohlu but no casualty was reported.

December 22

Local people in the Kahan area of Kohlu district said that the security forces in a retaliatory move attacked a village situated at the border of Kahan and Bekar area of Dera Bugti. They said that seven people, including a child and two women, were killed in the attack. However, this was not confirmed officially. The SFs retaliatory move was initiated after unidentified people attacked a vehicle of the Pakistan Muslim league (Q) candidate at PB 24 Dera Bugti Tariq Masuri in the Bekar area. Two people, including a cousin of Tariq Masuri, were killed and five wounded in a blast. Police stated that it was a landmine where as a spokesman for the Balochistan Republican Army claimed that the vehicle was blown with a remote control device.

December 24

Four pro-government Bugti tribesmen were killed and three others injured in an ambush near Dera Bugti, some 500-km from Quetta. According to police, Wadera Wazir Khan Nothani was going to Sui from Dera Bugti in a pick-up along with a friend and security guards. When their vehicle reached the Nelagh area, some unidentified assailants opened fired on them with heavy weapons, killing four of them on the spot.

December 25

A bomb exploded in the industrial town of Hub. The explosive was said to be locally-manufactured and planted near the town’s telephone exchange. No loss of life or injuries was reported.

December 26

Two bomb blasts were reported from the Balochistan province. Police sources said that a device planted near a girls’ school in Mastung’s Hindu Mohalla exploded, causing damage to the main gate and a wall of the school, and shattering windows of several nearby houses. In Khuzdar, the blast reportedly occurred near Chamrok Chowk. However, no fatality was reported in these explosions.