Balochistan Timeline - 2009

Date

Incidents

January 01

At least 13 people – 10 militants and three SFs personnel – were killed in a clash between SFs and militants in Balochistan. According to the SFs, the gun-battle started when the militants – reportedly members of the Bugti tribe – attacked a patrol party in Dera Bugti District. The clash continued for the entire day in the Uch, Gandoi and Zan kho areas. At least five SF personnel were also injured in the gun-battle.

The Baloch Republican Party Chief and militant leader Nawabzada Bramdagh Bugti has urged the Baloch nationalist groups to abandon parliamentary politics and form a united front in their struggle for ''freedom''. In a telephonic press conference from an unknown location, he rejected the idea of holding negotiations with the Government to resolve the Balochistan issue. He said the Baloch people did not trust state elements, which he claimed had deceived them in the past. He said the Baloch leaders, Khan of Kalat Ahmed Yar Khan, Price Agha Karim and Nawab Nauroz Khan Zarakzai, had also held talks with rulers but it proved aimless as the ''usurpers'' were reluctant to recognize the national rights of the Baloch people. Bramdagh Bugti said the Baloch people were passing through a critical phase of their history and in such situations it was the responsibility of the Baloch masses, especially the political forces to realize the gravity of situation and strive for a collective struggle. He maintained that the only way to get sovereign rights was to join an armed struggle against the ''usurpers that have occupied their motherland''. He alleged that the troops in Balochistan were using missiles from the United States and Britain against their resistance movement and added that the Balochs would still be able to defeat the state forces that were killing people in military operations. Bugti also stated that tribalism, individualism and self-interest of opportunists were the main hurdles in the unity of the Baloch people.

January 2

16 persons, including the driver of a Quetta-bound train, were injured when Baloch militants attacked the train. The Quetta Express, coming from Peshawar in the NWFP, was attacked in Nothal area of Sibi District. The attack injured 15 passengers and the train driver, who was reported to be in a critical condition. The Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the incident, saying the attack had killed three Policemen deputed on the train to ensure security. BRA spokesman Sarbaz Baloch told Daily Times that the attack was a part of the fresh phase of BRA attacks on Government installations after it decided to end the unilateral cease-fire announced in September 2008.

A clash between Security Forces (SFs) and the Baloch militants in Dera Bugti District continued for a second consecutive day. The BRA spokesman claimed that the militants killed 12 Frontier Corps (FC) personnel when they blew up three of their vehicles in Gazi Tir. The BRA spokesman added that rockets were fired and a gun-battle continued between the militants and the FC personnel.

January 03

Two officials of the Frontier Corps (FC) were killed and four others injured when an FC patrol struck a landmine in the Uch area of Dera Bugti. "Two soldiers were killed and four others were injured in the incident," a FC spokesman told. A spokesman for the Balochistan Republican Army later claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the Mastung area, an assailant hurled a grenade at an FC team. The explosion killed a civilian, identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, an Uzbek national, and injured around a dozen people, including three FC personnel.

January 04

Armed men killed a trooper of the Balochistan Constabulary, identified as Abdul Hakeem, in the Shallkot area of Quetta, capital of Balochistan. The attack appeared to be a targeted killing – the first of its type directed against a Government functionary in 2009. Around 73 people are reported to have died in targeted killings by Baloch militants in 2008.

A police constable, identified as Liaquat Ali, was killed in Turbat.

Unidentified assailants targeted the Jaffar Express train going from Balochistan to Sindh. At least three persons were wounded in the attack which took place in Mangoli, seven kilometers from the Dera Murad Jamali District. The Baloch Republican Army claimed responsibility for the attack. Its spokesman, Sarbaz Baloch, said the driver of the train had been killed, but the claim could not be verified through independent sources. The attack was the second on a passenger train in four days.

Three armed groups in Balochistan announced the formal end of a four-month-old unilateral cease-fire in response to the Security Forces’ continued military operation in the province. Declaring the end of the truce, the BLA spokesman Bibarg Baloch said the BLA, the Balochistan Republican Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front were disappointed by the Government’s ‘lacklustre’ response to the cease-fire. The three ‘pro-independent Balochistan’ groups announced the cease-fire in September 2008.

The BNP Information Secretary and former senator Sanaullah Baloch has disclosed that the supporters of Taliban have captured land worth PKR Two billion in the eastern and western parts of provincial capital Quetta with the covert support of the ‘establishment’ in order to undermine the Baloch nationalist movement and promote Talibanisation in Balochistan. In an interview with Daily Times, the former senator said the Government had failed to establish its writ in Quetta, where the Taliban and their supporters were consolidating their grip. Several parts of the provincial capital have become ‘no-go areas’ where the Taliban and their supporters have consolidated their position, he said.

January 5

Unidentified assailants killed two Shias in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, despite tight security arrangements due to Muharram. Police sources said motorcyclists attacked two Hazaragi-speaking members of the Shia community, identified as Muhammad Essa and Muhammad Khan, on Kirani Road.

Gas supply to the Sui purification plant was suspended after a pipeline was blown up in Sui town. According to police sources, the blast caused by device placed under the pipeline connecting gas wells with the main purification plant damaged a portion of about five to six feet. Baloch Republican Army’s spokesman Sarbaz Baloch claimed responsibility for the blast

January 7

Police arrested four foreigners near Pakistan’s border with Iran on suspicion of links with international terrorists. The Panjgur Police believe the four men were members of al Qaeda who entered Pakistan via Afghanistan and were planning to go to Iran to pursue terrorist activities. The raid was conducted in Tasp town of Panjgur to arrest two Turkish nationals and two Azerbaijan nationals, a Panjgur-based Police official said. The suspects reportedly claimed to have come to Pakistan to acquire religious education, although according to Police, it seemed they wanted to cross the border into Iran.

Unidentified militants blew up two gas pipelines in Sui. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

A remote-controlled bomb planted in a motorcycle parked in front of a shop in Sui town exploded. However, no casualties were reported.

Security Forces in Dera Bugti recovered two kilograms of explosives from two men.

January 8

One civilian was killed and eight persons were wounded when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded near a Security Forces’ (SFs) vehicle in Khuzdar. "One civilian was killed and eight people including a paramilitary soldier were injured in the attack," said Ali Murad, a doctor at the district hospital. The device was detonated by remote control when the SFs vehicle approached.

January 9

A Bugti tribal chief and his three bodyguards were killed in a landmine explosion in the Bekar area of Dera Bugti District. Wadera Nawaz Masoori Bugti was on his way to a village when his vehicle hit an anti-tank landmine planted by unidentified miscreants. Consequently, Wadera Nawaz, along with three of his bodyguards, was killed on the spot, while two other people sustained injuries.

Two Punjab-bound trains were fired upon by suspected militants in Dera Murad Jamali and Kashmore. According to private TV channel reports, unidentified men attacked the Rawalpindi-bound Jaffar Express near Dera Murad Jamali, killing its assistant driver and injuring four persons. Further, the Chilton Express was fired upon near Kashmore, after which train drivers stopped working in protest, causing severe transportation problems for the people.

January 10

In a sectarian incident, unidentified men killed a central leader of the Fiqah Jafferia along with his guard in Sibi District. The assailants opened fire on Saqlain Haider and his guard, Ghulam Ali.

January 11

Suspected militants blew up a 24-inch gas pipeline from Pirkoh gas field to the plant in Dera Bugti. The supply of gas to the plant was suspended following a blast caused by explosive planted near the pipeline. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

January 12

Unknown miscreants lobbed a hand grenade into the house of a Railway guard at the Railway Colony in Quetta. However, no casualty has been reported.

January 13

Seven Security Force (SF) personnel were injured in an explosion in the Pir Koh gas field area of Dera Bugti District. The explosion took place when a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle was blown up by a bomb planted on a road and detonated by remote control. Seven FC men in the vehicle were injured and the vehicle was completely destroyed, official sources said. A spokesman for the banned Baloch Republican Army, Sarbaz Baloch, called journalists from an unspecified location and claimed responsibility for the blast.

January 14

Four persons, including three soldiers, were killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast in the Dera Bugti District. The Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the incident. The bomb, planted in the Sui Colony main bazaar, targeted a van carrying paramilitary personnel. Three soldiers and a shopkeeper died instantly. BRA spokesman Sarbaz Baloch told Daily Times that the SF personnel had gone to the Sui bazaar to remove posters of their slain leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. He apologised for the civilian’s death saying it was unintentional. "We are sorry for the killing of an innocent man. But we would like to appeal to the people of Balochistan to stay away from the check-posts and vehicles of the police, FC [Frontier Corps] and the military, because they are our prime targets… Attacks can take place any time. We should not be blamed next time a civilian dies in an attack on officials. People have to be vigilant," he said.

Unidentified assailants killed four Policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, in a shootout in Quetta. Motorcyclists ambushed a Police team on Sariab Road at around 11am, killing four Policemen. Three of the murdered Policemen belonged to Hazara community and were Shia. The outlawed Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the killings, which reportedly appear to be part of a recent series of target killing of Shias in the provincial capital that has claimed six lives in a month. "We claim the responsibility for today’s attack," Ali Haider, identifying himself as a spokesman for the group, said in telephone calls to local media, AFP reported. "It was a target killing and police officers belonging to the Hazara tribe were targeted," a senior police officer said.

January 15

Two youths belonging to the Bugti tribe were injured in a landmine explosion at Yarupat village of Sui sub-division.

Rockets fired by suspected insurgents slightly damaged boundary walls of a Security Force camp in Dera Bugti. Four rockets fired from an unknown direction landed near the camp of a security agency deployed for the security of installations in Dera Bugti. However, no casualty was reported.

January 19

Militants blew up a gas pipeline in Dera Bugti, suspending supplies to several areas, AFP quoted officials as saying. According to Daily Times, the pre-dawn blast damaged a main pipeline bringing gas from the Pirkoh field to the Sui purification plant in Dera Bugti District. However, no casualties were reported. The Baloch Republican Army claimed responsibility for the blast. "We carried out the attack," Sarbaz Baloch, a spokesman for the group, said in telephone calls to the local media.

January 20

A bank manager of Habib Bank Limited was killed by the insurgents. The BLA claimed responsibility, saying the slain banker was ‘spying’ for intelligence agencies. Attiq Ahmed Qureshi, the bank manager, was shot dead by unidentified men on a motorcycle, near the Sariab Police Station. BLA spokesman Bibarg Baloch told that Attiq had been warned several times before to stop going against the BLA’s cause by spying for the agencies.

Gas supply to the main Sui purification plant from Pir Koh field was suspended after a pipeline was blown up in the Dera Bugti District. A large portion of the 24-inch diameter pipeline was blown up by the blast, said a senior police officer.

January 21

Gas supply from the Loti field to the Sui purification plant was suspended after insurgents blew up a pipeline in the Dasht Goran area of Dera Bugti District. "The explosion destroyed a five-foot section of the 18-inch-diameter pipeline," a security official said in Sui. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. A 24-inch pipeline connecting the Pir Koh gas field with the Sui plant had been blown up a day earlier on January 20. Sarbaz Baloch, claiming to be the spokesman of the outlawed Baloch Republican Army, claimed responsibility for both the blasts.

Beebargh Baloch, spokesman for the banned Baloch Liberation Army, claimed that his organisation had killed four people in Kalat and a bank manager in provincial capital Quetta.

January 24

Two persons of Punjabi origin were shot dead in a targeted killing on the Sariab road in Quetta. The victims, identified as Muhammad Farooq and Shahzad Ahmed, were both residents of Rahim Yar Khan District of Punjab. The BLA spokesman Bibarg Baloch claiming responsibility for the killings said that the men were killed in reaction to the "ongoing genocide of the Baloch people by the Pakistan Army". He said the BLA had formally asked all ‘Punjabi citizens’ to leave Balochistan or face the consequences. "Those who followed our warnings have already left, but those who refuse to quit Balochistan will be targeted in the future," he warned. The BLA spokesman also claimed the two men were intelligence agents.

January 26

Frontier Corps personnel had to be called in to maintain law and order in Quetta after fierce clashes erupted between Police and an angry mob following the killing of Chairman Hazara Democratic Party, Hussain Ali Yousufi of the Shia community. Yousufi, who was running a travel agency on the Dr Bano Road, was entering his office at 10:30am (PST) when some unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on him with automatic weapons. The armed men later escaped from the incident site. 13 persons were injured when clashes among angry protestors, Police and traders took place on the Shahra-e-Iqbal and Jinnah Road. The protesters also torched several vehicles, motorcycles and a bank on the Jinnah Road. Four vehicles, a commercial bank and two motorcycles were set ablaze as clashes continued for several hours. Police later claimed to have arrested 21 suspects, including three activists of a banned religious organization, on charges of killing Hussain Yousufi. The banned Sunni militant group LeJ claimed responsibility for the killing in a telephone call to the local press club. "We claim responsibility for this attack," said the caller, who identified himself as Ali Haider, a purported LeJ spokesman.

January 29

Nine people, including three SF personnel, were injured in a landmine blast in the Ampadagh area of Bolan District. According to the Police, some of the injured were employees of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) who were proceeding to Ampadagh where a PPL team had been engaged in an oil exploration survey for the past few months, when the vehicle they were traveling in hit a landmine planted by unidentified militants.

January 30

A man was killed when militants fired a rocket into a farmhouse in Naseerabad. "Militants fired two rockets targeting a Frontier Corps checkpoint. One of the rockets hit a farmhouse in the area, killing one civilian," said local police official Nizam Shahid Durrani.

February 1

A man was killed and six others sustained injuries when unidentified attackers lobbed a hand grenade at a Police patrol in the Khuzdar District. "The police patrol was the target, but the grenade was tossed over the vehicle’s roof, fell in front of some shops and exploded, killing a passer-by and injuring six others," senior Police official Rehmatullah said. Another grenade exploded in almost the same spot, but caused no damage, he added.

14 people were injured when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded in the town of Dera Murad Jamali. "The bomb detonated by remote control was apparently targeting paramilitary vehicles which narrowly escaped," senior Police official Shahid Nizam Durrani said.

Unidentified men blew up a pipeline supplying gas to the Sui Purification Plant in Dera Bugti District. The explosives, which were placed under the pipeline, destroyed a two-foot portion of the pipeline. The Balochistan Republican Army spokesman Sarbaz Baloch claimed responsibility for the attack.

February 2

At least five militants were killed in a gun-battle with SFs in the Dasht-e-Goran area of Dera Bugti District. According to the local Police, a group of armed assailants opened indiscriminate fire at a vehicle of the SFs and in retaliation, at least five militants were killed by the troops.

A top United Nations (UN) official was kidnapped and his driver was killed after his vehicle was ambushed in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. John Solecki, head of the UN High Commission for Refugees office in Quetta, was going to office from his nearby residence in the Chaman Housing Society when the gunmen in a car opened fire on his vehicle. Even as the driver was seriously wounded as their vehicle crashed into a wall, the gunmen abducted Solecki, who is an American national, at gunpoint. The driver, Syed Hashim Hazara, later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.

Unidentified gunmen killed a Shia trader in Quetta in an attack apparently linked to the recent cycle of sectarian killings in the provincial capital. Syed Iqbal Zaidi, a resident of Quetta’s Shahbaz Town locality, was driving home when two men on a motorcycle shot him near Sariab Bridge on Zargoon Road and fled, Police said.

February 3

The BRA admitted to having killed five Punjabis in the Noshki and Mastung Districts, saying it was retaliation for the alleged firing by SFs on a wedding ceremony in Dera Bugti. Unidentified people riding on a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire on a welding shop owned by a Punjabi, Muhammad Asif, on Aminuddin Road in Noshki District at around 7pm. Consequently, four people, including the brother of the shop owner, Muhammad Farooq, were killed on the spot. Several people were injured in the attack. According to sources, the shop had been attacked many times in the past because of its Punjabi link.

Another man of Punjabi origin, identified as Haji Muhammad Jamil, was killed at the Quetta Bus Stop in Mastung District.

The Police in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, detained as many as 15 suspects in connection with the kidnapping of the UNHCR Balochistan chief. Police sources told the media that security agencies raided some parts of the city and arrested 15 suspects following the kidnapping of John Peloski on February 2 while he was on his way to office. His driver, identified as Mohammad Hashim Raza, was killed while resisting the kidnapping bid. The suspects were detained from Kuchlak, Kharotabad, Chandni Chowk, Ghousabad and others areas.

February 5

Three SF personnel were injured after their vehicle hit a landmine that exploded in the Doba Nokhani area of Dera Bugti District.

A main gas pipeline was blown up in the Sardar Karez area in the suburb of Quetta. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited chief Mushtaq Siddiqi said unknown men planted explosives material in the 18-inch pipeline which went off, resulting in disruption of gas supply to Mastung, Kalat, Pishin and Ziarat and a power-generating plant in the suburb of Quetta.

February 6

The BLA spokesman Bibarg Baloch denied any role of his outfit in the abduction of the UNHCR head in Balochistan John Solecki. Baloch said, "We are not involved in the kidnapping of the US citizen in any way." Unidentified people had kidnapped Solecki on February 2 after murdering his driver in the provincial capital Quetta. The BLA spokesman, however, confirmed the group had kidnapped six officials of the Mari Indus Gas Company. He said they had not decided about the fate of the kidnapped.

February 8

A driver was shot dead while his colleague sustained injuries when unknown assailants opened fire on a truck ferrying supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan in the Lakorain area on the National Highway in Khuzdar District. The truck was coming from Karachi and heading towards Afghanistan via the Chaman border. When it reached the Lakorain area, motorcycle borne attackers opened fire on the truck, killing driver Khan Sawar and injuring Haji Ahmed Khan.

An official of the SFs was killed while two others were injured when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near the Sohbatpur area of Quetta.

February 11

SF personnel raided a house in Pashtoonabad on the outskirts of capital Quetta and arrested six suspected Taliban militants.

Gas supply was suspended in some parts of the Sariab area when unidentified assailants blew up a pipeline while a house was attacked with a hand-grenade. Police said the assailants planted the explosive device under the pipeline in the Killi Mengalabad area and blew it up, disrupting gas supply to several areas on the outskirts of Quetta.

A British court has acquitted Baloch nationalist leader Khair Buksh Marri's son, Harbiyar Marri, and his close aide Faiz Baloch of all cases against them. A private TV channel reported that they were arrested in London on charges of carrying out terrorism and sabotage activities in Balochistan. Harbiyar Marri was a provincial minister during the last regime of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz but went to London and sought asylum there after former president Pervez Musharraf took over in 1999.

February 12

Train service between northern Balochistan and other parts of the country was suspended when unidentified saboteurs blew up a railway track near the Bakhtyarabad area of Sibi District. The saboteurs had strapped explosive materials to the railway track near Chukra Railway Station that affected some ten feet of the track.

Gas supply to a large number of consumers was suspended after unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in the Kirani area of Quetta. According to Police, the militants blew up a gas pipeline in Kirani by planting an explosive device, suspending gas supply to over 1,000 households in the area.

Police defused a powerful bomb planted outside the Jannat Market in the Gwadar town.

February 13

Security agencies raided a house and arrested five suspected suicide bombers in the Pashtoonabad area of Quetta. Religious paraphernalia and pictures of Taliban leaders were confiscated from the rented house, an unnamed official said, adding that, the arrested persons are being interrogated at a secret location. "Preliminary investigation reveals that three of the suspected bombers are residents of Waziristan and two are locals," the official said. He said the five would-be bombers had links with the banned TTP.

February 15

Two SF personnel were killed when a check-post near the Lehri area of Nasirabad District was attacked. According to official sources, some men opened indiscriminate fire on the Frontier Corps post, set up to protect a railway track linking Balochistan with the rest of the country, killing two soldiers.

A vehicle of the Frontier Corps escaped a bomb blast in Khuzdar District. Police sources said a bomb had been planted at a bus stand which exploded when the vehicle was passing through the area.

A bomb blast in the Wahdat Colony of provincial capital Quetta destroyed the windows of nearby houses within the jurisdiction of Saddar Police station. Unidentified men had placed the bomb in a bag and planted it in Wahdat Colony, they said. No loss of life or injuries was reported.

February 16

The BLUF, which claims to have kidnapped American UN official John Solecki, said, it had extended a 72-hour deadline for the Government to meet demands for his release. "We have decided to extend the deadline on the appeal of our honourable Baloch leaders," a BLUF spokesman told via telephone at the Quetta Press Club. "A new deadline will be announced later,". UN officials have reportedly initiated contact with important Baloch leaders to persuade them to ask the kidnappers to release Solecki, sources said.

February 17

Nine key commanders of the slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti surrendered before authorities in the Pat Feeder area of Dera Murad Jamali. The commanders - Arz Muhammad Bugti, Deh Lakh Bugti, Kerghi Bugti, Marri Khan Bugti, Chekar Bugti, Sher Muhammad Bugti, Penju Bugti, Zehro Bugti - surrendered to the authorities under the leadership of ‘Commander’ Gulzar Bugti. They also announced support for the Government.

February 18

In a suspected sectarian incident, unidentified men killed the Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat-Noorani provincial leader Maulana Iftikhar Ahmed Habibi in Quetta. Police said Habibi, who was also a regular Islamic commentator on Pakistan Television, was killed by unidentified men when he was on his way to work. "This is an act of sectarianism carried out by those who had previously threatened to kill Habibi," Mir Abdul Qudoos Sasooli, the provincial president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, said. "The murder was carried out by the activists of banned organisations which are operating now under new names," he said, giving the Balochistan Government a 72-hour ultimatum to arrest the murderers.

Unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in the Pirkoh area of Dera Bugti District. Local administration officials said a 16-inch portion of the pipeline had been blown up by explosive devices, causing suspension of gas supply to a purification plant in the area.

The BLUF has rejected a plea by the United Nations for direct negotiations for the release of John Solecki, the head of the UNHCR in Balochistan who was abducted two weeks ago. Mir Shahak Baloch, who claimed to be the spokesman for the previously unheard of BLUF, called reporters from an undisclosed location and said the UN official’s health had worsened in the last few days. He said the group had provided details of the missing persons to the Government along with a video of John Solecki released last week. "Instead of cooperating with us, the Government is trying to move the missing persons to more secretive places. We want the UN to formulate a team and come to Balochistan to see the actual situation about the missing persons," the BLUF spokesman said.

Aali Khan Bugti, a grandson of slain Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, has formed a tribal lashkar (militia) for protecting national installations and restoring peace in the Dera Bugti District. Shaier Bugti, spokesman for the lashkar, told reporters that the militia had been formed to stop target killings of Bugti tribesmen and maintain peace in the area. Armed supporters of Aali Bugti set up pickets on a number of roads and started patrolling the District.

A vendor was killed after his bicycle hit a landmine in the Jaffarabad District. According to local Police, Gul Muhammad, a resident of Sibi, was on his way to the town when his bicycle hit a landmine planted by unidentified miscreants in RD-238 area of the District, killing him on the spot.

Suspected insurgents blew up a railway track near Galangore in the Noshki District. Unknown persons planted an explosive device on the track at Machi Landi near Galangore. While the track was blown up, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

The Inspector General of FC, Major General Salim Nawaz, has said terrorist activities are still being carried out in Balochistan despite Government efforts for reconciliation. Addressing a press conference in Quetta, he said the FC has foiled a major terrorist act in the province by seizing a heavy stock of weapons. These weapons were to be smuggled to different parts of the country from Afghanistan. He also said no operation is being carried out in any part of Balochistan for the recovery of UN official John Solecki because it is feared that his abductors might kill Solecki on seeing the troops approaching. The officer also claimed that Brahamdagh Bugti is reported to have links with the abduction of John Solecki.

In an apparent act of sectarian violence in provincial capital Quetta, unidentified men murdered a man and his son, both from the Shia sect. The motorcycle borne attackers opened fire on the victims at their shop on Quetta's Double Road, killing Haji Sakhi and his son, Ghulam Ali, on the spot. No one has claimed responsibility for the killing.

Rail link between Quetta and the rest of the country was disrupted after a portion of the main track was blown up near the coalmine town of Mach. According to sources, an explosive device placed under the railway line near the Intermediate College damaged the track.

The BLUF holding an American UN worker in Balochistan said that it would kill him in four days if the Government did not release more than 1,000 prisoners. The threat on the life of John Solecki was made in a letter sent to the local news agency Online International News Network that was also read by an Associated Press reporter. UN spokeswoman Maki Shinohara said the world body was aware of the threat through the media and "took it seriously". In the letter, the BLUF demanded the release of 1,109 activists from Balochistan nationalist groups it claimed had been arrested by the Government. "John Solecki's mother and his relatives and international human rights groups should play a role for the recovery of thousands of our sons... who are in state-run torture detention cells," the one-page letter said. "The United Nations and state institutions... are forcing us to kill Mr John Solecki in our protest," it said.

March 2

Six people were killed and several others, mostly students, sustained injuries in a suicide attack on a madrassa (seminary) in Kili Karbala in the Pishin District. The Jamaat-Ulema-i-Islam (Fazlur Rehman faction JUI-F) provincial chief Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani, the Balochistan Assembly Deputy Speaker Syed Matiullah Agha and provincial ministers belonging to the party were attending a ceremony at the seminary when a 15-year-old boy blew himself up in front of the stage. However, all the JUI-F leadership escaped unhurt. District Police Officer Akbar Raisani confirmed the incident saying that the blast had occurred at a girls’ madrassa in Kili Karbala, where Shirani was scheduled to address the school’s convocation. According to eyewitnesses, two men had come to the seminary for the bombing but one of them escaped immediately after the first explosion. Quoting Police sources, JUI leaders said two alleged suspects had been arrested in connection with the blast.

March 3

Five Shias were killed in Quetta when unidentified assailants attacked members of a family in the city - taking the death toll from sectarian attacks in a single week to 12. According to Police, the assailants ambushed a van carrying the Shia family on the eastern bypass of Quetta – killing five people on the spot. The slain civilians were returning to Quetta from the Mach area when they were targeted. "It is a target killing," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Wazir Khan Nasar said. Although no group claimed responsibility for the incident, the killings are reported to be part of a series of sectarian attacks that started in Quetta a couple of months ago. The banned Sunni terrorist group, LeJ, has accepted responsibility for most of the recent attacks.

Three people were injured in grenade attacks in the Gwadar and Awaran areas. Sources said a grenade hurled at a primary school in Gwadar exploded in the courtyard, injuring a 10-year-old boy. In Awaran, two persons were wounded when a grenade was hurled at a bakery.

March 5

Gas supply to a large number of consumers was suspended after unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in the Kirani area of Quetta. According to Police, militants blew up a 4-inch gas pipeline by planting explosives in Kirani, suspending gas supply to over 1,000 households in the area.

The Government has accepted the demands of the BLUF in exchange for the recovery of John Solecki, head of the United Nations refugee agency in Quetta. However, no confirmation was made at the official level about the acceptance of the demands, a private TV channel quoted its sources as saying. According to the channel, seven of the 141 missing women had been identified and a high-powered committee would submit a report in a few days. Separately, according to another news channel, the Balochistan Government said in a statement that the list of 1,109 alleged missing persons provided by the BLUF was being ‘intensively’ scrutinised. According to the statement, 45 persons had already been traced, a few of whom were at their houses while a few were in judicial custody for their alleged involvement in criminal cases.

The Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani has reportedly announced a top-level committee to investigate the captors’ demands. "We have set up a high-level committee, including high-ranking officials and politicians, to locate the whereabouts of the alleged missing persons listed by the BLUF," the provincial Government said in a statement. The Balochistan Home Secretary will work as secretary of the committee. The committee, headed by the Balochistan chief minister, invited the female members of the provincial assembly to assist in identifying and locating the allegedly missing women in the province, the statement said. Solecki was abducted at gunpoint from Quetta while traveling to work on February 2. His driver was killed during the abduction.

March 8

Unidentified men blew up a 16-inch gas pipeline in the Loti area of Sui while three rockets were fired in a village in Jafferabad. The men planted explosives near the pipeline supplying gas to a plant from Pirkoh, damaging the pipeline and suspending the supply. In another incident, unidentified men fired three rockets at Goth Northern Bugti village in the Jafferabad District. However, no casualties were reported.

March 9

Unidentified men on a motorbike killed two Shias in an apparent sectarian attack in Quetta. The victims were shot in their car on Kirani road, on the outskirts of the Balochistan capital. "Two men from the Shia community were shot dead by unknown gunmen riding a motorbike," a Police official said. No one claimed responsibility for the killings. The attack came a week after five Shias were killed in another drive-by shooting in Quetta.

A trooper was killed and a Police official sustained injuries in a landmine blast near Goth Magsi in Rabi Canal area of Dera Murad Jamali. The deceased was identified as Muhammad Asghar Ali and the injured Police constable as Khadim Hussain.

Two persons, Nobat Khan and Muhammad Ismaeel, sustained injuries in another landmine explosion in Goth Muhammad Ismaeel.

A pipeline supplying gas to the Sui Purification Plant was blown up. Unidentified men blew up an 8-inch (in diameter) portion of the pipeline temporarily suspending gas supply to the plant. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

March 16

The abductors of UNHCR official John Solecki threatened to kill him in 48 hours if the Government did not free more than 1,100 Baloch prisoners allegedly in custody. Solecki, head of the UNHCR in Balochistan, was abducted at gunpoint from provincial capital Quetta on February 2. His driver was killed during the abduction. A spokesman for the Balochistan Liberation United Front called Online news agency in Quetta, saying the UN had to play its role in fulfilling the group’s demands within 48 hours. "If anything happened to John Solecki, who is a heart patient, then we will not be responsible," Online quoted spokesman Shahak Baloch as saying. "We have given our demands to the United Nations that 1,109 of our people and 141 women prisoners should be recovered, but UN officials have not shown seriousness… His condition is deteriorating, we are providing him every possible medical treatment, but it is making no difference," the spokesman said.

March 17

Two people were killed when a landmine exploded in the Chamalang coalfield area, about 180 kilometers from provincial capital Quetta. Unidentified men had planted the landmine, which exploded when one of the victims, Umar Khan Marri, stepped on it. While Marri died on the spot, the other victim, identified as Muhammad Ameen, died later in a Chamalang hospital.

March 18

A man in Chaman hurled a grenade targeting an NATO supply truck carrying machinery destined for Afghanistan, damaging the equipment. The attacker threw the hand grenade as trucks loaded with supplies waited for customs clearance near the Chaman border crossing in Balochistan, local Police officer Gul Mohammad said. "Soon after the grenade blast people saw a man fleeing the area and (he) disappeared in the rush," he said, quoting witnesses. The blast caused "minor damage" to the machine and no casualties, the officer said.

The FC arrested two persons and seized 300 kilograms of explosives during a raid in the Sariab Road area of Quetta. The explosives had been packed in bags and stored in the basement of a shop dealing in automobile spare parts at the Hazar Ganji bus stop. Taking to reporters, FC Inspector General Major General Salim Nawaz said, "The material seized in the raid is enough for making 150 powerful bombs and causing immense loss."

President Barack Obama and his top aides are reportedly considering expanding covert operations against the Taliban leaders in Pakistan to the Balochistan province. Two reports sent to the White House call for broadening the target area to include the region in and around Quetta, citing unnamed senior administration officials. In Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told, "We have seen the report. It appears to be speculative and we cannot comment on speculations". Up to now missile strikes launched by the US drones against militants who carry out attacks in Afghanistan have been limited to Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas, New York Times reported. "It is fair to say that there is wide agreement to sustain and continue these covert programmes," an unnamed senior US administration official told the newspaper.

The Inspector General of FC, Major General Saleem Nawaz has described as baseless reports that Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders and militants were hiding in Balochistan and said the Taliban did not have political and tribal support in the province. "The border and other areas of Balochistan are not suitable for Taliban activities," he told reporters at the FC headquarters in Quetta. He also said the New York Times report about the presence of Taliban militants and their free movement in Quetta and other parts of the province needed to be verified, adding that Balochistan was not a safe heaven for Taliban. He claimed that political parties in the Pashtun-dominated areas were against the Taliban and the atmosphere was not congenial to the Taliban setting up their headquarters there.

The Taliban threatened to kill a Canadian journalist in their custody if their demands were not met by March 30. The journalist, Khadeja Abdul Qahaar, went missing in the Jani Khel area of Bannu Frontier Region in November 2008. In a video sent to the Miranshah Press Club, Khadeja said she was seriously ill and appealed to the Canadian and Pakistani governments, and human rights and journalists’ organisations to help in her release.

Troops neutralized two militant hideouts in Balochistan. A large quantity of weapons, rockets, explosives and communication equipment were found at two secret hideouts used by the militants, a paramilitary spokesman told. The operation was launched in Uchh District, some 270 kilometers southeast of provincial capital Quetta, after two soldiers were abducted by the insurgents, the unnamed official said. "Our men were kidnapped three days ago while patrolling and during a search operation we found two camps used by miscreants but when we raided them they had already fled… We have found a huge cache of arms, explosives, walkie talkies, and SIMs of Thuraya satellite phones," he said.

Four people were injured when a bomb exploded in a cafe in the busy Liaquat bazaar in Quetta. The women's wing of the Baloch Republican Army is reported to have claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Police, the bomb planted in the cafe exploded at approximately 1.30pm, destroying the building and damaging windowpanes of nearby shops. A woman who identified herself as Gohar Bibi and claimed to be spokesperson for the women's wing of the Baloch Republican Army, told reporters on phone from an unspecified location that her group had carried out the blast.

Gas supply to the Sui Power Plant was affected after unidentified men blew up two main gas pipelines in the Peer Koh area of Dera Bugti District. However, no casualty was reported. District administration sources said the men had planted explosives under the 20-inch and 16-inch diameter pipelines, supplying gas to the Sui plant from the Peer Koh gas field.

Three farmers were injured after their oxen-cart hit a landmine in Goth Muhammad Umar. The local Police said Murid Khan, Abdul Nabi and Dilawar Khan were proceeding to their fields in a bullock cart, which hit a landmine planted on the road.

Unidentified men blew up two gas pipelines in Sui and Dera Bugti. The men had planted explosives under the pipeline that damaged a portion of the pipeline, affecting gas supply to parts of the Sindh province and Sui Power Plant.

President Asif Ali Zardari announced a PKR 46.6 billion development package for Balochistan. Out of this sum, four water storage reservoirs would be constructed at a cost of PKR 36 billion, small delay-action dams at a cost of PKR 2.5 billion, PKR 3 billion will be spent on projects in Quetta and PKR 5 billion on transmission lines. The President said in provincial capital Quetta he had recommended amendments to the Constitution for an amicable resolution of the Balochistan issue. "Evolving a package of amendments to the Constitution to resolve the Balochistan issue is the way forward," he stated. Zardari said he could announce a general amnesty in Balochistan but it could not bear the desired results because such moves made in the past several time had not been successful. "I have asked the governor and the chief minister to form a provincial parliamentary committee, which may work with the federal parliamentary committee for resolution of the problems of the province," he said.

Several Baloch nationalist groups have rejected the 'reconciliation policy' of President Zardari for resolving the Balochistan issue. Speaking at a rally, leaders of the Balochistan National Party-M, National Party and Baloch Students' Organisation-M said the economic package announced in Quetta by President Zardari was a mockery of sacrifices made by people like Nawab Akbar Bugti and Nawabzada Balach Marri. They said the leaders had not sacrificed their lives for 'some billion rupees'. The Baloch people were waging a political struggle to achieve national rights and to protect their coast and resources, the speakers said. They also said the Baloch had already rejected mega projects launched by former president Pervez Musharraf. Leaders of the Anjuman Ittehad Marri, Baloch Women Panel, BSO-A, the Baloch Bar Association and Raisani Qaumi Ittehad alleged at another rally, at Mannan Chowk, that Balochistan had been "annexed" by Pakistan without the consent of its leadership in 1948. They also said the parliament of the Khan of Kalat had not approved the accession of the province to Pakistan.

A gas pipeline was blown up in the Zain Koh area of Dera Bugti District. Police said unidentified men had planted explosives under the eight-inch diameter pipeline. While a portion of the pipeline was damaged, no casualty was reported from the incident site.

A baker was killed while four people sustained injuries when unidentified men hurled a grenade and opened fire on a bakery in Mastung. The baker was identified as Paind Khan.

Unidentified men blew up a pipeline supplying gas to Sui in the Lotty area of Dera Bugti District. The men had placed explosives under the 16-inch diameter pipeline that damaged a portion of the pipeline, affecting gas supply to the Sui Power Plant.

Unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in the Zeen Koh area of Dera Bugti District. Explosives had been placed next to the 16-inch diameter pipeline that went off, damaging a portion of the pipeline and suspending gas supply to a purification plant, a source stated. However, no casualty was reported from the incident site.

Six FC personnel were killed in a remote-controlled bomb attack targeting a Security Forces convoy in the Sohbatpur area of Quetta, capital of Balochistan. According to a private TV channel, a man who claimed to be a spokesman for the Baloch Republican Army phoned various media organisations and claimed responsibility for the attack.

After two months of captivity, the BLUF released the UNHCR Quetta head John Solecki in Khadkocha area of Mastung District. The BLUF spokesman said Solecki was released on humanitarian grounds. The Mastung District administration confirmed later in the night that they had received John Solecki and he left Mastung for provincial capital Quetta with high security. The BLUF spokesman telephoned a news agency office claiming that John Solecki was released some 50 kilometers away from Quetta. The Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik, confirmed the release of Solecki. John Solecki had been abducted on February 2, 2009 while he was on his way to office in the Chaman housing scheme. His driver was killed in the kidnapping incident.

The mysterious killing of three leading Baloch nationalist leaders - who were allegedly arrested by intelligence agencies on April 3 - have sparked a wave of protests and violence across Balochistan that has so far killed one Police official. Police found the decomposing bodies of the three Baloch leaders - Ghulam Mohammad Baloch and Lala Munir of the Balochistan National Movement and Sher Muhammad Baloch of the Baloch Republican Party - in the Pidrak area of Turbat District on April 8-evening. The Baloch leaders were allegedly arrested by the intelligence agencies from the office of Kachkol Ali Baloch, a former leader of the opposition in the Balochistan Assembly. According to local sources, the Baloch leaders had been shot in the head. Violence and protests broke out across Balochistan soon after the news of the leaders' killing broke out. Reuters reported that two people had been killed in the violence.

13 people were injured in three blasts in Balochistan. Four persons were injured in a bomb blast in Turbat, when the bomb, which was planted on a motorbike, exploded near a military convoy, a Police official said. Three civilians and a Policeman were injured, he added. Separately, five Security Force personnel were injured when unidentified militants attacked their vehicle with a hand grenade near the Pir Kas area in Hub. In another incident, four people, including a journalist and a Policeman, were wounded in a bomb blast at Double Road in Khuzdar.

A gas pipeline, supplying gas to the Sui plant, was blown up in the Sui Tehsil (revenue division) of the Dera Bugti District. Some unidentified men had planted explosives, which exploded and damaged a portion of the 16-inch-diameter pipeline.

A patrolling vehicle of the troops hit a landmine, which exploded in the Loti area of the Dera Bugti District and damaged the vehicle. However, no one was hurt in the incident.

Gunmen shot dead eight persons in separate incidents, amid protests over the killing of three local leaders. Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a Police official in Quetta, senior Police officer Rana Khalid told. In another drive-by shooting, gunmen killed one person and wounded another, he said. "Both incidents could be linked to a three-day strike being observed in the province" since the bodies of three separatist politicians were found on April 9, he said. Police also recovered dead bodies of six employees at a coalmine in Margat. "The victims who were abducted on Friday, were killed before dawn on Saturday," local Police officer Jaffar Hussain said. "They were shot dead," he said. Meerak Baloch, spokesman for the BLA, claimed responsibility for the Margat killings in a phone call, saying those targeted were people from Punjab and the NWFP.

The protests against the killing of three Baloch nationalist leaders continued across Balochistan for the fourth consecutive day. The protests are being held against the assassination of Balochistan National Movement chairman Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, vice president Lala Munir Ahmed Baloch and Baloch Republican Party leader Sher Muhammad Baloch, with some blaming state agents for the murders. Political activists and supporters of the slain leaders observed a complete shutter down and wheel jam strike across the province and chanted slogans against the Government. Clashes between the Police and the protesters and arrest of political workers were also reported. Road links between Balochistan and other parts of the country were completely disrupted and passengers were stranded at bus stations and terminals. In addition, protesters in the provincial Quetta set ablaze branch offices of two private banks, two tractors belonging to the Agriculture Department, the office of a special magistrate, and two vans.

A Policeman was shot dead and a civilian sustained bullet wounds in Quetta, a Police official said. The official said the Policeman, Niaz Ali, was patrolling on a motorbike, when unidentified armed militants opened fire at him on Sariab Road. Saeed Ahmed, a passer-by, also sustained bullet injuries.

Seven youths were injured in a grenade attack at Killi Ibrahimzai Brewery. According to the officials, unidentified men threw a hand grenade on a group of youths sitting in front of their houses in the area.

April 14

The death toll in the week-long unrest in Balochistan has increased to 20 as another person succumbed to injuries in a local hospital in the provincial capital Quetta. 22-year old Asfandyar Khan Pashtun, a MBA student in the Balochistan University, was shot dead unidentified assailants while standing outside a house of his relatives in the Jinnah town on April 11. Meanwhile, some armed men shot dead a man on Sariab road. The victim was identified as Zahoor, an employee of the Civil Defence department.

The Interior Adviser Rehman Malik announced a reward of PKR 5 million for anyone providing information regarding those involved in the killing of three Baloch nationalist leaders in Turbat. He also said a committee – headed by the Balochistan police chief – would be formed to probe the killings. Malik held the militants responsible for the violence in Balochistan that had occurred after the Turbat killings. He opined that the murder of the Baloch leaders was an attempt to sabotage the reconciliation process initiated by the Pakistan People’s Party.

Unidentified militants threw a hand grenade at Policemen deployed on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, injuring four Policemen and a passer by. Officials said Police personnel were on duty in the Hazar Ganji area when unidentified militants lobbed a hand grenade at them. Policemen Baqir Ali, Rajab Ali, Nadir Ali and Muhammad Asif, and passer by Islamud Dun, were injured in the attack. The assailants managed to escape from the incident site.

A power supply pylon transmission line was blown up through a bomb in the suburb of Quetta, capital of Balochistan. Suspected insurgents had reportedly planted the bomb which went off by the tower and completely destroyed the 132 KV Quetta-Mastung transmission lines. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Five militants and a FC soldier were killed in an alleged armed clash and a landmine explosion in the Dera Bugti area. The spokesman for the Baloch Republican Army, Sirbaz Baloch, claimed that five militants had been killed while SFs lost 19 troopers. He said 25 others were injured in clashes and the landmine explosion. Officials, however, said that no armed clash occurred between the SFs and militants in the area. They said that six soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion in the Marvi area. "An FC vehicle was blown up in the landmine blast," officials said. According to reports from provincial capital Quetta, soldier Mohammad Arif who was wounded in the blast died of his injuries late in the evening.

The spokesman for the Baloch Republican Army said: "We have destroyed three vehicles of security forces and damaged a helicopter." He identified the militants who were killed in the clash as Saifuddin Bugti, Ali Nawaz Bugti, Razi Bugti, Mosam Bugti and Mehmood. He said the clash occurred when SFs were carrying out a search operation in the Marvi area after the landmine explosion.

A man was killed in a landmine explosion in the Dera Bugti District. Police said two Bugti tribesmen riding a motorcycle hit a landmine in the Gandoi area. While one man died on the spot, the other sustained serious injuries. Further, a 10-year old boy was wounded when a toy bomb exploded near the Satellite Town in Quetta.

A 15-year-old boy was injured after one of two rockets exploded near a small house on the Major Tufail Road in the Quetta Cantonment area. The other rocket exploded inside a security official's bungalow, causing some damage. Another blast was reported from the Dera Bugti town. A house was damaged in the Bugti Colony after a homemade explosive device went off. However, no casualty was reported.

Markets and businesses remained closed in Quetta and other major cities of Balochistan on a call given by the Baloch National Front to protest the killing of three Baloch leaders in Turbat. A complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was observed on Sariab Road, Barhoi Road, Jinnah Road and Shahbaz Town in the provincial capital and public transport remained off the road. A man was injured when a mob blocked the Quetta-Karachi highway, set a vehicle on fire, pelted stones at and damaged several vehicles. The strike was also observed in Hub, Gadani, Othal, Bela, Mastung, Kalat, Haran, Lasbela, Noshki, Turbat, Gawader and Makran while protesters blocked the Quetta-Karachi highway for traffic.

April 28

A portion of the railway track linking the provincial capital Quetta with the rest of the country was blown up in near a college in the Sariab area. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

April 29

Three children were killed and their mother injured when they stepped on a landmine at a village near the border of Dera Bugti District. Police said the landmine had been planted in Goth Metha Bugti in the Sobatpur area. A Police officer said the woman and her children were on their way to a dispensary.

April 30

A soldier, Murtaza, was killed and three others sustained injuries when armed men ambushed a convoy of the Frontier Corps (FC) near Kahan in the Kohlu District. The convoy was reportedly going to Kahan from Kohlu.

A trooper was wounded when gunmen fired at the FC mess in the Khatan area of Khuzdar District. Even as the FC personnel retaliated, the assailants escaped from the incident site.

May 03

In what appeared to be target killings, unidentified assailants shot dead two Policemen on the Arbab Karam Khan Road in Quetta. Police said Head Constable Khan Gul and Constable Shamshad were on duty when they were attacked.

May 06

Suspected Baloch insurgents killed three SF personnel and injured three others when they attacked their van in the Thali area of Karmo Wadh town close to Sibi District. The insurgents are reported to have ambushed the SF personnel from their hideouts in the mountains. The slain soldiers were identified as Farman Ali, Muhammad Ramzan and Muhammad Rahim while Gohar Ali, Nehamatullah and Muhammad Ibrahim were injured. Local sources said the attack was followed by clashes between the two sides. However, the insurgents managed to escape.

May 10

Unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in the suburbs of Quetta. Officials of the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited said the explosion along the 16-inch diameter pipeline in Mengalabad area on Sariab Road destroyed a portion of the gas pipeline, affecting gas supply to some suburbs. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Ten people were wounded when a remote-controlled explosive device went off at the Goll Chawk area of Dera Bugti. The explosion took place shortly after a convoy of the supporters of a tribal elder passed by.

An explosion outside a madrassa (seminary) in Chaman damaged the building's boundary wall. However, no casualties were reported. The explosive device was planted near the boundary wall of Madrassa Ashraful Aloom Manchika.

May 19

Nawabzada Aali S. Bugti was elected chief of the Bugti tribe to succeed his late grandfather Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. A ceremony was held in Sui to formally inaugurate Aali Bugti as the tribe’s chief and Amirhan Faqir, the custodian of the shrine of Pir Suri, helped him don the traditional turban and handed over the tribal sword to him. Aali Bugti is son of Nawabzada Saleem Akbar Bugti, who died of heart attack when Nawab Bugti was alive. He was with Nawab Akbar Bugti when the latter left his home to lead his tribesmen to the mountains when the military launched an operation in the area and disappeared after Nawab Bugti’s death on August 26, 2006. He returned to Sui three weeks ago, along with his younger brother. After the ceremony, Aali Bugti paid tribute to his grandfather for sacrificing his life and pledged to uphold Baloch traditions and rights of the Baloch people.

May 20

Unidentified men blew up a pipeline supplying gas to Sui in the Lotty area of Dera Bugti District. The men had placed explosives under the eight-inch diameter pipeline that damaged a portion of the pipeline. The Baloch Liberation Army spokesman Sarbaz Baloch claimed responsibility for the explosion.

May 21

Five people were injured when a bomb exploded in a hair-cutting saloon in the coastal town of Pasni. Police said some people who had come for a hair cut left a small bag in the saloon. "The bag contained a home-made bomb which exploded," said a senior Police official.

Landmine explosions killed a driver and a 12-year-old schoolboy in Dera Bugti. The boy was walking home from school when he stepped on a landmine and died on the spot, a security official said. In another incident, the driver of a vehicle was killed and two passengers injured when their car hit a landmine near a gas field in the same town, he said. In a third blast, a tractor overturned after hitting a landmine in Dera Bugti district, injuring its driver. Police also recovered 335 kilograms of explosives from an abandoned car in Kuchlak, a town near provincial capital Quetta, security officials said. "The material was to be supplied to militants in the province," an unnamed security official told.

At least five persons, including a woman, were killed when unidentified attackers opened indiscriminate fire on a customer service centre in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. The assailants, who were riding a motorcycle, attacked the service centre on Kalat Street, Jail Road at around 11pm. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Two unidentified men were killed while planting explosives at Sui in the Dera Bugti District. According to the Police, the militants were planting explosives in an under construction house in Bugti Colony that went off killing both on the spot.

June 2

Dozens of unidentified armed men shot dead a Policeman and security guard of the NATO supply terminal in Chaman town before setting ablaze four trailers loaded with supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan. Inspector Fida Muhammad informed the media that some three dozen armed men stormed the Police check-post, shot dead one of the Policemen before looting five AK-series rifles and an unknown number of wireless communication sets from the check-post. They later broke into the NATO supply terminal, shot dead its security guard identified as Abdul Wahab and set ablaze four trailers loaded with supplies for the NATO troops in Afghanistan. The armed men also abducted the watchman of the terminal at gunpoint. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first of its nature in the border town.

June 3

A Frontier Corps soldier, Sanjar Khan Bugti, was killed and another man was wounded when a landmine exploded in a village near Sobatpur area in the Jaffarabad District.

The body of another Frontier Corps soldier was found in the Goth Mazari area close to the Punjab-Balochistan border. Mohammad Rashid was reportedly abducted on June 2 while patrolling near the Sui area.

Three people, including a soldier, were injured when gunmen opened fire on a security vehicle in Khuzdar town. A spokesman for the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, Mirack Baloch, claimed responsibility for the attack.

June 4

A Policeman was shot dead by unidentified individuals in Quetta, the Balochistan capital, in what is being reported as another in a series of target killings of Policemen by insurgents in the provincial capital. Subha Khan, a traffic police official, was en route to work at his post on Arbab Ghulam Ali Road, when two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on him, killing him on the spot. No group has claimed responsibility for the killing.

Six persons were injured when masked men on a motorbike lobbed a hand grenade at a gathering of mourners in Quetta. The attack came as people were attending a Bugti tribeswoman's funeral in a tent, said local Police officer Khalid Manzoor. "The hand grenade missed the target and landed outside the tent, otherwise the casualties would have been heavy… It was a terrorist act. The culprits could be those who are opposed to peace in the region," added Manzoor.

A remote-controlled bomb planted on a parked motorbike in Khuzdar District exploded near a military vehicle, killing three persons, including a paramilitary soldier, local Police officer Juma Khan said. At least 10 persons, mostly civilians, were injured in the blast.

One person was killed and 35 others wounded when a bomb hidden in a toilet exploded in a Quetta-bound train. The bomb hit the Bolan Express near Dozan area in the Bolan district, about 45 kilometers away from the provincial capital Quetta, said a Pakistan Railways official. The train was heading from Karachi to Quetta when it was hit by the powerful bomb at around 01:25pm. The Baloch Republican Army has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A man was killed and three others were injured in clashes between Security Forces and militants in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti District. The Baloch Republican Army's spokesman Sarbaz Baloch claimed that four Security Force personnel were killed and six others injured in the clash. But official sources rejected the claim and said that one civilian had been killed in firing by armed men.

Two shops were destroyed and a shop owner injured when the women's wing of the Balochistan Republic Army (BRA) bombed a shop on the Mezan Chowk in Quetta. The blast occurred at around 1pm in a juice shop in one of the most crowded business centres of the provincial capital, destroying two neighbouring shops and injuring one of the shop's owner. "The blast occurred shortly after a woman wearing a veil left the shop. She must've left explosives in the shop," said the juice shop owner. The women's wing of the BRA claimed responsibility for the blast. "We accept responsibility for the bomb blast," said Gohar, spokeswoman of the women's wing of the BRA, in telephone calls to several newspaper offices. She claimed to have personally put the explosives in the shop. "More such attacks would be carried in the future," she warned.

A gas pipeline was blown up near Jaud area of Sui, affecting supply to the Sui purification plant. Sources said an explosive device had been placed under the pipeline. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

A judge and his aide were shot dead and 17 people were injured in bomb and grenade attacks in various parts of the province. Ziaullah, the judge of a Qazi court in Dasht, was coming to provincial capital Quetta along with his Reader Abdul Khaliq Dehwar in his official vehicle when motorcycle borne attackers fired at them near the Wapda grid station on Sariab Road. The two were seriously injured and died en route to the civil hospital.

15 people were injured when a bomb placed on a push-cart parked at a taxi stand in Dera Murad Jamali went off.

Two people were injured in a grenade attack on the offices of a goods company in Hazargangi area.

A Frontier Corps convoy going to Quetta from Mastung escaped a bomb attack in the Mian Ghundi area. The roadside bomb was detonated with a remote control after the convoy had crossed the Luck Pass area. Azad Baloch, a spokesman for the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Four persons, including two women, were killed after armed assailants opened fire on the residence of tribal leader Wadera Wazeer Khan in Dera Bugti. A Sui Police official said the victims could not be identified. The motive behind the killings could only be ascertained after an investigation into the killings, he said.

June 22

Three Shias, including a union council chief, were killed in Quetta, the Balochistan capital, by unidentified men in a suspected sectarian incident. Unidentified armed men reportedly opened fire on Talib Agha, Union Council 47 chief in Quetta, when he was on his way home along with his driver and security guard. Witnesses said Agha had just closed his showroom and was driving back on Fatima Jinnah Road when the men fired at his car. He died on the spot, while his security guard Jawad Hussain died on the way to hospital. The driver, Hassan Ali, died at Quetta’s Civil Hospital. No group claimed responsibility for the incident.

Two SFs personnel were injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in the Suri Darbar area of Dera Bugti District.

June 23

The principal of the Government Commerce College was shot dead by two motorcycle borne assailants in a suspected sectarian incident in Quetta. Professor Amanat Ali was reportedly ambushed while traveling to his college. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack.

Rail links between Quetta and the rest of the country were suspended after unidentified persons blew up a railway track near Kolpur. According to railway officials, the terrorists had strapped a bomb to the track near Bridge No 22 at Dasht, which damaged a foot-long piece of the track.

June 26

Rail links between Quetta and the rest of the country were suspended after unidentified terrorists blew up a railway track. Explosives strapped to the track in the outskirts of Mach town damaged a two-feet section of the track, officials said.

June 28

Three persons sustained injuries in two blasts in Gwadar city. The first blast took place near the office of the Gwadar Development Authority while in a separate incident two motorcyclists lobbed a hand grenade into a tailor’s shop, injuring three people.

In the first-ever suicide attack in a Baloch-populated area of Balochistan, four people were killed and 11 wounded when a bomber targeted a hotel in Kalat. The attack in Kalat District appeared to be aimed at disrupting supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan. The bomber detonated his explosives inside a hotel in the Sorab area of the District, 250 kilometers southeast of provincial capital Quetta. Most of the victims were reportedly Baloch tribesmen. Witnesses said the suicide bomber, dressed in white traditional clothes, parked his explosives-laden vehicle outside the hotel on the Quetta-Karachi RCD Highway, and then went into the hotel. When he blew himself up, the ensuing blast also served as a detonator for the explosives in the parked vehicle. It may be a remote control device planted in the car, said Deputy Inspector General of Khuzdar Police, Ghulam Rasool Domki, while talking to The News. Reports from Sorab suggested that the explosion occurred in a car that was on its way from Quetta to Sorab. The car driver had parked the vehicle outside the hotel.

Rangers arrested seven terrorists from Kashmore in the Sindh province and Khuzdar in Balochistan province, recovering weapons and explosives from them. According to a private TV channel, Rangers personnel arrested four alleged terrorists from Kashmore near the Sindh-Balochistan border. They are also said to have recovered hand grenades, landmines, Kalashnikov rifles and three walkie-talkies from the men. Colonel Muhammad Nasir of the Rangers said the arrested terrorists had alleged links with the Balochistan Republican Army. Further, three terrorists were arrested from Khuzdar and a vehicle loaded with 25 kilograms of explosives seized.

Three persons were wounded in a grenade attack in Gwadar. Police said the grenade lobbed into a house in civil colony exploded in the courtyard.

Two unidentified attackers injured a man when they hurled a hand grenade at his residence in Killi Bangulzai in the provincial capital Quetta. Police said the two motorcycle-borne attackers lobbed the grenade at a house owned by Mian Khan, adding that Khan was injured in the explosion.

Police foiled a bid to blow up the Rawalpindi-bound passenger train, Quetta Express, by defusing 10-kilogram explosive planted by the track in Killi Zareen area in the jurisdiction of New Sariab Police Station on the outskirts of Quetta.

Unidentified armed men shot dead a Levies official in the Killi Sadozai. Police said that Adam Khan Babar, a trooper in Zhob Levies Force, was on his way home when he was killed.

July 6

The principal of a Government school is reported to have been shot dead in a targeted killing in Mastung. Officials said the principal of Pilot Secondary High School, identified as Javaid, was on his way home when unidentified militants killed him on the Quetta Road. Javaid is the fourth academician to be targeted in a series of attacks on Government officials during the last few months in various parts of Balochistan.

July 9

At least five Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were killed and 14 other people sustained injuries in a series of bomb and landmine blasts in Dera Bugti, Sibi and Quetta. Sources said a landmine planted in the Marwar area of Dera Bugti District exploded, hitting a Frontier Corps vehicle. Five FC personnel were killed and three injured in the incident. "It was an anti-tank mine which destroyed the FC vehicle," said official sources. No one has claimed responsibility so far.

Nine persons were wounded when a bomb exploded in Sibi Bazaar, some 160 kilometers east of provincial capital Quetta. Official sources said the bomb had been planted in a shop on Liaquat Road. It exploded after the owner had closed the shop, injuring nine passersby.

A bomb fixed to a bicycle parked in front of a Police Station exploded when it was being defused by the Police personnel. One man was injured in this incident.

July 10

Ten Taliban militants were killed during a clash with the SFs in the Zhob District of Balochistan. Quoting official sources, a private TV channel said the militants had been killed in retaliation after they attacked a security check-post in the Sambaza area of Zhob. Local administration and security officials told the APP news agency that an unknown number of Taliban militants had killed one SF official, Hazrat Mir, and wounded two others during the attack on the check-post.

July 13

SFs arrested 13 Al Qaeda terrorists – en route to Punjab via bus – from Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan.

July 16

Three Bugti tribesmen were killed by landmine explosions in the Beloti and Pat Feeder areas of Jaffarabad District. Sources said that Jalali Shambani Bugti and Laio Shambani Bugti were killed when their motorcycle hit a landmine in Beloti near Dera Bugti. In the other incident, a man was killed when his motorcycle hit a landmine in the RD 238 area.

July 17

One person was killed while another sustained injuries in a landmine blast in the Loti area of Sui. According to Police, two men, identified as Asghar Ali and Khuda Bakhsh, were on their way home when their motorbike hit a landmine in Loti.

Six people were injured when an explosive device went off in a busy market in Khuzdar, while four persons, including three women, were injured in a grenade attack in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. According to Khuzdar Police, the explosives were planted on a motorbike parked near the post office on Chakkar Khan Road. In addition, four people, including three women, were injured when unidentified militants lobbed a hand grenade into a shopping centre in the Muddasir Market of Quetta.

Gas supply to the Pirkoh purification plant from the Sui gas field was suspended after unidentified men blew up an 18-inch piece of a pipeline. According to the Police, the men had strapped explosives to the pipeline, which exploded, suspending gas supply to the plant. The blast also damaged a 3-foot long section of the pipeline.

Unidentified men blew up an under-construction Police Station in the Sarbandar area of Gwadar. Police sources said the powerful explosion caused extensive damage to the building. However, no casualties were reported.

The principal of a school was shot dead in a suspected sectarian incident in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. Police said Haji Mohammad Mohsin, principal of the Government High School in Sariab Mills, was going to school when armed men riding a motorcycle opened fire on him, killing him on the spot. "It is a target killing," a Police officer said, adding that raids were being carried out in various areas to arrest the killers.

Unidentified assailants shot dead a Professor of the Government Degree College on the Sariab Road in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. Police officials said motorcycle borne gunmen opened fire on Haji Ghulam Sarwar, a Chemistry professor, when he was entering his house near the Tariq Hospital on Sariab Road. He sustained multiple bullet injuries and died on the spot. Haji Ghulam Sarwar is the sixth academician to be a victim of target killings in Balochistan during the last couple of months.

A gas pipeline was blown up in the Sui gas-field in the Dera Bugti District. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. The explosion reportedly led to the suspension of gas supply to the Sui purification plant.

A woman was killed and six persons, including two SF personnel, were injured in a grenade attack in Quetta and an incident of firing in the Mach area. Sources said that armed men riding a motorcycle attacked a check-post of the Frontier Corps (FC) in the Sairab Road area with a hand grenade, injuring two FC personnel. The FC troops deployed in the area rushed to the location and the assailants reportedly started firing and FC personnel returned fire. A woman and two other passersby suffered bullet injuries. The wounded woman later succumbed to her injuries. "The woman was killed by firing by the armed men," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Shahid Nizam Durrani said. In the Mach incident, Chaudhry Mohammad Arif and his wife suffered injuries when a hand grenade was hurled into in their house.

Large portions of two major pipelines supplying gas to several parts of the country from Sui were blown up, disrupting supply and creating a shortfall of 400 million cubic feet per day in the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited system. Sources in Sui said that the blasts which damaged the lines were caused by explosive devices placed under the pipelines in areas along the Sindh-Punjab border supplying gas from the main plant of Pakistan Petroleum Limited. Both the lines caught fire which was later put out by cutting gas supply. Gas supply to several industrial units, including fertiliser factories in southern Punjab, was severely affected. "Large portions of both 30-inch and 24-inch diameter pipelines were destroyed by the powerful explosions," the sources said. The sources added that some people also blew up part of the 16-inch pipeline supplying gas to the Loti gas plant. Sirbaz Baloch, a spokesman for the Balochistan Republican Army, claimed responsibility for the three blasts.

Two SF personnel were killed while three others sustained injuries when unidentified miscreants lobbed a hand grenade at a security vehicle on the Spiny Road in Quetta.

The Baloch Republican Army killed five abducted officials, including a SHO, and threatened to kill the remaining abducted persons if their demands were not met within 24 hours. The BRA is reported to have thrown the bodies on Jathhar Kelji Road. Speaking to a private TV channel by satellite telephone, a spokesman for the BRA, Sarfraz Baloch, claimed responsibility for killing the officials, including the Dera Murad Jamali SHO Ahsanullah Khosa. The spokesman threatened that if the Government did not release arrested Baloch leaders within 24 hours, the BRA would kill the remaining officials and labourers in their custody. The officials and labourers were working on Government projects in different areas of Dera Murad Jamali, headquarters of Nasirabad District, when they were abducted.

Insurgents shot dead four more Policemen and threatened to execute other hostages unless the Government withdraws troops and releases detainees in Balochistan, Police said. "The bodies of four more policemen were found early on Sunday. They had been shot dead overnight," senior Police official Kalim Ullah told reporters. The insurgents had set as a deadline for meeting their demands. The BRA claimed that it had killed four more kidnapped Policemen after the Government failed to meet its demands and thrown their bodies in lands. "We have killed four more policemen and released seven labourers on humanitarian grounds," said spokesman Sarbaz Baloch, in a telephone call to reporters in the provincial capital Quetta. "In a day or two, we will decide about the fate of other policemen, if our demands are not accepted by the government," he added. The Policemen and the labourers were taken hostages late in July 2009 in the Naseerabad District, Police officials said. Four policemen were killed in July, while another six Policemen and four labourers were still being held, the Police officials said. "If the government does not withdraw the FC (Frontier Corps) from Quetta and release our men, we will kill the rest of the hostages in a couple of days," Sarbaz Baloch said.

Militants who had kidnapped Police personnel and labourers on July 30 claimed to have killed 10 more Policemen and thrown their bodies in the Chattar area of Nasirabad District. With the latest claim by the BRA, the number of Policemen killed by the kidnappers has now reached 22. Police officials in Dera Murad Jamali told that they had just heard this claim of the BRA. "Until the bodies are found, we cannot say anything in this regard," an official said. On August 8, the BRA had issued another deadline of 48 hours to the Government to release detained Baloch leaders and workers and threatened to kill more Policemen if the demand was not met. The BRA spokesman Sarbaz Baloch told journalists on August 10 that the group had killed 10 more Policemen in retaliation for the military operation in Dera Bugti. He claimed the BRA had also attacked SFs in Dera Bugti and damaged a helicopter. Officials, however, denied that the SFs had launched any operation in Dera Bugti, clarifying that troops had been sent to Chattar area for the recovery of the kidnapped Policemen.

The FC foiled a terrorist plan to be carried out on Independence Day and arrested eight terrorists, seizing weapons from them. The FC troops, which had been deployed in provincial capital Quetta after a deteriorating law and order situation, raided the New Sariyab area on a tip-off and arrested the eight terrorists. The troops also seized a hand grenade, some Kalashnikovs, explosives and pistols from their possession. According to sources, the terrorists said, during initial investigation, they had planned to launch attacks in the Mezan Chowk during the August 14 celebrations. The arrested persons were identified as Hidayatullah, Attaullah, Abdul Samad, Abdul Razzaq, Abid Ali, Abdul Rehman, Dadullah and Amanullah. Sources said all of them belonged to a banned organisation.

The Khan of Kalat (the title of former rulers of State of Kalat. Kalat state is now part of Balochistan), Mir Suleman Dawood, announced the formation of a council for 'independent Balochistan' and rejected any reconciliation with the Government of Pakistan without the mediation of European Union and United Nations. Addressing reporters from London on telephone, he said the council would ensure the creation of an independent state of Balochistan. The Khan said Baloch separatist forces of Pakistan and Iran would have representation in the council. He said the names of members of the council would be announced later. He, however, said that Nawabzada Baramdagh Bugti, leader of the Baloch Republican Party, will be a member of the council, adding that he was in touch with him and other forces which stood for an independent Balochistan. The Khan of Kalat said the Baloch had observed their Independence Day because the British rulers had accepted the independent and autonomous status of the Kalat state on August 11, 1947. He said Kalat was merged into Pakistan in March 1948 and in reaction Prince Agha Abdul Karim launched a revolt. The Khan also said the Baloch had lost trust in Pakistani rulers. However, he said that if European Union and United Nations mediated then negotiations could be held with the Government of Pakistan.

Two persons, Abdul Hameed and Qamar, were killed and six others sustained injuries in a bomb blast in the Irrigation Colony area on Sariab Road in Quetta. A FC spokesman said the bomb was planted in a motorcycle. Shortly after the blast, some militants opened fire on the FC check-post in the area. One militant was killed in an exchange of fire with the FC troopers.

Three separate bombings killed one man and injured 18 people in Balochistan. Police officer Abdul Hameed Lasi told that one of the bombs exploded in Hub, killing one man while injuring 15 others. Another Police Official, Abdul Qadoos, said two more bombs targeted Mach, injured three others. Separately, unidentified persons blew up three electricity towers in Kohlu and Dera Allahyar Khan, suspending power to surrounding areas.

Unidentified militants blew up three NATO oil tankers supplying fuel to the US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan at a terminal in Pishin District. A Police source said around 10 masked militants entered the terminal, held the watchman at gunpoint and planted remote-controlled bombs there. They also planted a bomb inside a parked vehicle, but the Bomb Disposal Squad defused it. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Suspected insurgents blew up a 220KV electricity pylon on the Guddu-Quetta high transmission line in Dera Allahyar, suspending power supply to several areas. The pylon, located along the Dera Allahyar bypass, was destroyed up when explosives attached to it were detonated with a remote control. Power supply to several areas of Balochistan, including provincial capital Quetta, was suspended.

August 17

The bodies of nine Policemen taken hostage in July 2009 by insurgents were discovered in Balochistan. "We have recovered nine bodies of dead policemen. They were kidnapped by the BRA," said senior Police officer Kaleem Ullah. The corpses were found in Naseerabad, some 390 kilometres southeast of provincial capital Quetta, and the Police officers were thought to have been killed about four days ago, Kaleem added. The insurgents had taken 24 local Police officials and labourers hostage in late July. Three Policemen escaped, and the bodies of 12 others have already been found. Sarbaz Baloch, a spokesman for the BRA, had earlier in August claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and deaths in a telephone call to reporters in Quetta. He demanded that the Security Forces leave the city.

In the fresh wave of target killing incidents in capital Quetta, four persons, including a cardiologist, were shot dead in two separate places. Police said cardiologist Dr Abid Iqbal Zaidi was shot dead by unidentified armed men on the Fatima Jinnah Road when he reached his private clinic around 6pm (PST). The cause of the murder is yet to be confirmed, but the Police stated that it is an incident of target killing.

A man and his two sons were shot dead by unidentified armed men on Sirki Road. Police said the owner of a welding shop, Sher Ahmed, was on his way home along with his two sons - Shabir Ahmed and Jalil Ahmed - when they were attacked. Police said some unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate firing with automatic weapons on them. While Jalil Ahmed died at the incident site, Sher Ahmed and Shabir Ahmed succumbed to their injuries in the Bolan Medical Complex Hospital.

August 19

Three explosions injured 13 people, including two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel and two Policemen, in Balochistan. Two FC personnel and six other people were wounded when unidentified persons lobbed a bomb at their vehicle on Hospital Road in Khuzdar and escaped. In provincial capital Quetta, three persons were injured when a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in the Chaki Shahwani area. In addition, two Policemen were injured when a hand grenade was hurled at their check-post in the premises of Balochistan University in Quetta.

August 21

An attack on the Jaffaria Alliance Balochistan chief Allama Maqsood Domki was foiled in Quetta by the Shia cleric’s own guards. According to Police, unidentified men opened fire on Domki at Ibrahim Street, McCongi Road, as he was on his way home after Friday prayers. Domki’s guards retaliated, killing one attacker on the spot, while two of his accomplices managed to escape. The Police said it had recovered two mobile phones and a grenade from the slain attacker. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Six people were injured in a bomb blast at the Civil Hospital Road in Khuzdar in the evening. According to the Police, the bomb was planted in a motorbike parked at the roadside.

August 22

Two persons, identified as Muhammad Arif and Abdul Manan, were injured when a roadside bomb exploded at Wadh tehsil (revenue division). The Police have registered a case and started investigation.

August 23

Police foiled a terrorist plot in Quetta by recovering two tons of explosive material from a vehicle. The Balochistan Police on a tip-off raided a pick up carrying 2,000 kg of explosive material. The accused riding in the vehicle exchanged fire with Police but later left the vehicle and managed to escape.

At least three persons belonging to Punjabi community were killed and three others critically injured in a targeted killing claimed by the BLUF at Jinnah Road of capital Quetta in Balochistan, when Baloch national parties observed a "black day" in addition to a shutter down strike on the third death anniversary of Nawab Muhammad Akbar Khan Bugti, former Chief Minister and Governor of the province. All businesses, public and private institutions were shut down following the Balochistan National Front's call for a shutter down and wheel-jam strike. The Government deployed 5,000 Policemen and Frontier Corps personnel to ensure peace. The Government also imposed Section 144 restrictions on assembly, preventing the Jamhoori Watan Party from staging a protest rally in front of the Quetta Press Club.

A clash between SFs and armed terrorists was reported near Jaffarabad and Sui.

Unidentified militants blew up a gas pipeline of the Loti gas field in the Dera Bugti District of Balochistan. The pipeline supplied gas to the Loti Purification Plant from a well and was blown up with explosive charges.

Militants fired nine rockets from the mountains surrounding the Sui airport. However, no damage was reported.

Several vehicles carrying supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan caught fire after a huge bomb blast followed by heavy firing on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border near Chaman in the Balochistan province. Police sources told APP that hundreds of heavy vehicles, mostly carrying supplies for the NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan, had to stop on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border near Chaman as all types of cross border movement had been suspended due to security reasons for the last two days.

Prior to the explosion, a Police party deployed for security of the vehicles defused a bomb. As a result of the blast, several trucks and tankers transporting fuel and other equipment for the NATO forces caught fire. However, no loss of life was reported from the incident site.

Two Punjabis were allegedly victims of target killing in the evening as violence broke out in various Baloch-dominated Districts after another Baloch nationalist leader's body was recovered.

The BNM Secretary General Khalil Ahmed Baloch said the party's central joint secretary Rasool Baksh Mengal was found dead in Lasbela District. Mengal was allegedly detained by intelligence agencies from the Uthal area on August 23. Baloch said the recent target killing of Baloch nationalist leaders had forced the party to believe that intelligence agencies had killed all the missing persons of Balochistan. Rasool Mengal's killing reportedly led to a series of protests all over the Balochistan province. In Maskhy area, protesters set ablaze banks and offices of the National Database and Registration Authority and the District administration. The Baloch National Front, an alliance of 10 nationalist groups, has announced a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike across Balochistan on September 1 (today) to protest the killing of the Baloch leader.

Three people were shot dead in the industrial town of Hub. According to Police, Syed Walayat Hussain, his friend and a bodyguard were going to Karachi, the Sindh capital, after attending a religious function in the Dureji sub-division when motorcycle borne assailants opened fire at their car on the Sakran Road. Police said it might be an incident of sectarian killing.

Five persons, including four Policemen, were injured when unidentified men lobbed a grenade at a Police truck on the Jinnah Road in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. Police said two men riding a motorbike hurled the grenade at the Police truck, but it missed its mark.

Three persons, including two FC personnel, were killed in an exchange of fire with gunmen from the BRA in Turbat District's Thump area. Official sources said an FC team was ambushed during a routine patrol. The insurgents opened fire at the FC vehicle on the Zubeda Jalal Road, killing the two soldiers. The FC troops consequently retaliated and killed one of the attackers. Murtaza Baig, a spokesman for the FC in provincial capital Quetta, confirmed the attack and added that three FC troopers had also been injured in the clash. However, unverified local accounts suggested that six FC soldiers had been killed, but the figure could not be independently confirmed. The BRA has claimed responsibility for the attack. The slain insurgent was identified as Meer Jan Miral, reportedly a Balochi poet.

The Quetta Police arrested three militants and recovered explosive materials from their possession in a raid at a house in Eastern Bypass area late on September 3. Addressing a press conference at the Central Police Office on September 4, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), Abid Notkani, said two militants were arrested a few days back and during interrogation, they disclosed that their other accomplices had been residing in the provincial capital Quetta and had a huge quantity of explosive materials. He stated that late on September 3 at about 2:30 am, a Police party raided a house in Eastern Bypass area, and arrested three militants - Allahyar, Rahim Khan Rind and Karim Khan Brohi - and recovered 44 kg of explosives, 49 hand grenades, two remote control systems, two plastic tubes, one electronic detonator, two non-electronic detonators and one mobile charger. The CCPO added that it was the second gang of militants, which was held by the Quetta Police in a week. He noted that they have been residing in Quetta city for one and a half years.

One civilian was killed and 27 others, including six Policemen, were injured in three attacks in Naseerabad and Quetta Districts. Police sources said that a bomb planted in a parked motorcycle in a crowded area went off in Sohabtpur area of Naseerabad, killing a passer-by and injuring six others. In Quetta, unidentified militants hurled two hand grenades on the City Police Station building, injuring 21 persons including six Policemen. Witnesses said that the grenades were hurled one after the other with a gap of less than five minutes.

An employee of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), Muhammad Iftikhar, was shot dead by unidentified militants at Khuzdar town of Balochistan. Police said Iftikhar was visiting a friend at his shop when two unidentified men riding a motorcycle opened fire. The Police said the incident was an apparent target killing.

Suspected Taliban militants set ablaze eight oil tankers near the Western Bypass in Quetta when those tankers were carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan. It is the first such attack in Quetta.

A bomb exploded in the Soorab town, some 250 kilometers south of capital Quetta, killing two persons. "An improvised explosive device, which two men were carrying with them on a motorcycle, went off, killing both of them," local Police official Muhammad Sarwar said.

Two persons were killed in a bomb blast in the Lakhoryan area of Kalat District. According to the Police, the blast occurred along the National Highway, instantly killing Munir Ahmed Khidrani and Saeed Ahmed Sumalani, an employee of the Khuzdar Radio Station.

Three persons were killed and two others injured when unidentified militants opened fire at the houses of pro-Government Bugti tribesmen in the Loti area of Dera Bugti District. According to the local Police and hospital sources, the armed men, who were on a motorcycle, fired at the houses killing three persons, including a couple.

The twin brother of the former Inspector General of Police of Balochistan was shot dead by unidentified militants in an incident of target killing near his home at Khalid Bin Waleed Road under Ferozabad Police Station. The slain person was identified as Agha Jalal (62).

Four people were killed and three others injured when a landmine exploded in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti. The mine exploded as Ahmed Ali, along with his family, rode over it on an ox-drawn cart, District Police Officer Ashfaque Jamali said.

Unidentified militants abducted a Bugti tribal elder, Ali Muhammad Bugti, at gunpoint in the Naseerabad District. According to local Police, Ali was abducted from RD-225 area when he was on his way home.

One person was killed and four others injured when a grenade was hurled at a shop on Quetta Road at Dera Murad Jamali. The District Police Chief, Nazir Ahmed Kurd, said that three men on motorbikes hurled a grenade into a welding shop owned by a settler, Mukhtar Ahmed, and later managed to escape from the incident site. One of the workers in the shop, Ghulam Hussein, died while Mukhtar Ahmed, Muhammad Akbar, Muhammad Azhar and Muhammad Akmal were seriously injured.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead an official of a law-enforcement agency on Saryab Road in capital Quetta. According to the Saryab Police, the deceased, whose identity was not disclosed, left his camp to purchase food around iftar (fast-breaking meal) time when he was targeted at the Badini Cross.

Two SF personnel were killed and four others injured when a security vehicle hit a landmine near the Uch Gas Field area in Dera Bugti. According to official sources, the security vehicle was on a routine patrol when it hit the landmine.

Unidentified militants intercepted and subsequently set ablaze a NATO supply truck on the National Highway under Wadh tehsil (revenue unit) of Khuzdar District.

The law and order situation has hampered the exploration of gas and production activity in Balochistan over the last few years, the recently released Balochistan Economic Report stated. The report said over three-fifths of the 657 terrorist attacks in 2006, nearly one-third of deaths in such attacks and almost half the injuries were reported in Balochistan. The report said the security situation in Balochistan worsened in 2006 compared to 2005. It said the number of terrorist attacks in 2006 was almost twice as high as the period between 2002 and 2005. According to the report, gas fields of Sui, Uch, Pirkoh and Loti are all located in Dera Bugti, which is at the heart of the conflict. The report identified the principal reason for the deteriorating security situation as "a violent conflict between security forces and the BLA and Bugti tribesmen." The report said the BLA, the Balochistan Liberation Front and Bugti militiamen launched 403 terrorist attacks in the province during 2006, killing 277 people and injuring 676 others. It said gas pipelines; security checkpoints and camps, government offices, rail tracks and bridges were targeted in these attacks.

According to the Balochistan Economic Report, Kohlu District - a stronghold of the BLA - along with Quetta and Sibi represent over a quarter of the terrorist attacks. The report said Balochistan accounted for three-fifths of all terrorist attacks in Pakistan during 2006, and most of them took place in or around Dera Bugti. It said the precarious security situation in Dera Bugti was the main reason behind the decline in gas output - with the financial impact felt throughout the province. According to the study, the security situation in Balochistan was "highly unsatisfactory" during 2007, as terrorists continued attacking state installations and security apparatus. The report said with gas fields exhausting, security worsening, fiscal receipts declining and community support in doubt, Balochistan's gas economy was in urgent need of reforms.

The Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani said Pakistan will not allow US drones to attack Balochistan. Quoting sources in the ISPR, a television channel reported that Kayani attended the 28^th Tripartite Commission, consisting of senior military representatives from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, where he met Afghan Army Chief General Bismullah Khan and the International Security Assistance Force Commander General Mc Chrystal.

The Government has decided to adopt recommendations by the Parliamentary Sub-committee on Balochistan formed during the regime of President Pervez Musharraf, Dawn reported. This was decided in a meeting between Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid President Shujaat Hussain, at the prime minister's Parliament House chamber. The PML-Q president informed the PM about the recommendations that had been formulated by the parliamentary sub-committee headed by Shujaat, with PML-Q General Secretary Musahid Hussain and Senator Wasim Sajjad as its members in the previous Government.

The Balochistan High Court has ordered the Station House Officer of Dera Bugti Police Station to register an FIR against former President Pervez Musharraf and others in the murder case of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. On a petition by Nawab Bugti's son Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti, a bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa ordered registration of a case against the respondents, except the NWFP Governor Owais Ghani.

Three Police officials were injured in a bomb blast at the Spiny Road in Quetta. The blast took place near a Police van which was on a routine patrol on the road. It is yet to be confirmed whether the blast was caused by an explosive device planted by the road or a hand grenade, an unnamed official said.

A blast destroyed a telephone cabinet at the Zarghoon Road. The powerful explosive device was reportedly planted near the cabinet besides the wall of the GPO Quetta. However, no loss of life was reported.

Unidentified militants killed two people in Khuzdar in an attack on a truck carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan on the RCD Highway in Balochistan. Police said the armed motorcyclists opened fire at the truck using automatic weapons, killing two helpers aboard the vehicle, identified as Abdul Rahim Khan and Amjad.

October 12

Unidentified armed men killed the Balochistan Chief Mines Inspector on Sariab Road in Quetta. Ashraf Ali was a member of the Shia Hazara community. The suspected sectarian killing of the Hazara official occurred in the wake of a statement by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that regretted target killings of Hazara. Quoting the Hazara community, the statement said 270 members of the community had been killed since 2004.

October 13

In another incident of target-killing, the Jamhoori Watan Party Vice-President, Muhammad Aslam Mirza, and his driver were shot dead by unidentified armed men in the Shalkot area of Quetta. Police said Muhammad Aslam Mirza was coming out of his poultry farm located at Shalkot, when he reached near the gate of the farm some unidentified armed men opened fire, killing him and his driver Gul Faraz on the spot. The Police termed it a targeted killing.

October 14

The United States Consul General in Karachi, Stephen Fakan, has said it would be unreasonable to deny the presence of the Taliban in Balochistan. "We don’t want the Taliban or extremists to gain the kind of foothold in the province that is unhealthy for the people of Balochistan, too," said Fakan while talking to reporters in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. "Seeing how difficult it was to dislodge them, but when you squeeze these people there, so they have to move somewhere else and so in some parts of Balochistan, so we are focusing on the province from that perspective, and the US ambassador also tried to make the point some time back," he added. "I think that we have established over the years that the Taliban pass the borders between Afghanistan and Balochistan, and even some members of the government had said that they know they (Taliban) travel to Karachi, they travel to Islamabad and they move all around the country," the diplomat stated.

October 15

Two persons, including a Frontier Corps trooper, were killed and five others injured in terrorist attacks in Quetta, capital of Balochistan.

A team of the Frontier Corps (FC) was attacked while they were patrolling the Saryab Road in Killi Badini. As the convoy reached Killi Badini, a powerful explosive device planted near the road went off, killing trooper Ahsanullah. Two FC soldiers and two civilians passing by sustained multiple injuries.

In an incident of target-killing, a trader was shot dead and another injured when unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire at them on the Thana Road. Asif Ali and Altaf Hussain sustained multiple injuries. Hospital sources confirmed that Asif Ali later died, while the condition of Altaf Hussain was stated to be serious.

October 18

A grenade was hurled into the house of the Balochistan Information Minister Younas Mullazai in the provincial capital Quetta. However, the minister was not in the house at that time. According to Police, the grenade lobbed by men on a motorbike exploded in the backyard of the house. Windows and doors were damaged and a wall collapsed. Sources said that Mullazai was in Jhal Magsi to offer condolences on the death of former senator Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Magsi. Police later raided several places in the city and outskirts and took some people into custody for questioning.

Two people were injured in firing at a truck carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan on the RCD Highway near Baghbana area of Khuzdar. Police sources said that unidentified motorcyclists attacked the truck carrying goods for NATO troops with automatic weapons – injuring two men, who have been identified as Abdul Shakoor Khan and Gul Zaman. The assailants later managed to escape.

October 20

Three FC personnel were injured after a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in the Khatan area of Khuzdar District. A Police source said unidentified miscreants had planted the remote-controlled bomb which they exploded while a FC vehicle was passing by. The blast also destroyed the FC vehicle.

October 22

Seven laborers were injured in a grenade attack in Surab, some 65km from Kalat town, in the Kalat District. A senior Police officer said that armed men on a motorcycle hurled the grenade on the laborers working on a gas pipeline.

October 23

Unidentified gunmen killed an official of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in Quetta. The Police said the assailants opened fire on Tanveer Raza, an IB inspector, while he was walking on Zargoon Road near the office of the Railways divisional superintendent, killing him instantly.

October 25

Unidentified gunmen killed the Balochistan Education Minister Shafiq Ahmed Khan, a member of the Pakistan People’s Party, outside his residence in the provincial capital Quetta. The Baloch Liberation United Front claimed responsibility for the assassination. Police in Quetta said unidentified motorcyclists shot dead the minister outside his residence on Thogai Road, while his brother’s father-in-law, Hydayat Jaffar, was injured in the same attack. Shafiq Khan is the second minister from Balochistan to have been killed over the last two months.

Unidentified armed men killed a Police Inspector and injured a Constable in the Khuzdar District. Witnesses said the men, who were in a car, opened fire on Inspector Riaz Ahmed Zehri and Constable Muhammad Farooq and fled. Zehri died instantly while Farooq was hospitalised. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack consequently sparked a violent demonstration in the area, in which people torched and ransacked Government and private property, including a bank.

October 27

Police and law enforcement agencies arrested eight men allegedly involved in various incidents of terrorism, during separate raids in the provincial capital Quetta. On a tip-off, heavy contingents of Police raided various places on Sariab Road, Satellite Town, Shalkot, Quaidabad, Saddar and other areas and arrested the suspected terrorists. The Police also seized some weapons from their possession. Police sources claimed that the men had confessed to their involvement in various terrorist activities in the city.

Police arrested at least 24 Afghan nationals from the border city of Chaman.

October 28

One person was killed and three others sustained injuries in a bomb blast at a busy junction in Dera Bugti. Police said the explosives were triggered with a remote-controlled device. Painda Khan, a resident of the nearby village, died instantly. The three injured people have been identified as Muhammad Khan, Ali Khan and Akhtar.

A senior Professor of the University of Balochistan was shot dead on the Kassi Road in Quetta. The BLA claimed responsibility for the killing. Police said Prof Khurshid Ansari was on his way to a mosque to offer his prayer when some unidentified men riding a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire, killing him instantly. The assailants subsequently fled from the incident site. Meanwhile, a BLA spokesman telephoned media offices and claimed responsibility for the killing.

13 people, including two children and a trooper, were injured when a hand grenade exploded at Meezan Chowk, a central commercial area in Quetta. Quetta Police said that unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade at a Frontier Corps checkpost near Mizan Chowk.

Two teachers and a student were injured when suspected militants hurled a hand grenade at a girls' school in Quetta. The grenade blew off the staff room's roof and the shrapnel hit two female teachers and an eight-year-old student. The teachers sustained head injuries but both are out of danger and the student had minor injuries.

A rocket fired in the morning fell near a law enforcement agency camp in the Musa Colony area of provincial capital Quetta. Satellite Town Police sources said the militants had targeted the troops, but the rocket fell on a house. They said no casualties were reported, as the residents had apparently gone out, but two rooms of the house were damaged.

Police in Quetta claimed the arrest of a top Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) terrorist wanted in 16 cases and for the murder of 28 members of the Shia-Hazara community in target killings in the provincial capital. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG, Operations), Shahid Nizam Durrani, said that Police had arrested Hafiz Muhammad Usman Muhammad Shahi alias Abbas, considered one of the masterminds of 28 sectarian killings. He said Abbas had also revealed important details of recent sectarian killings, in addition to providing information on his accomplices in target killings. "Abbas also provided information that helped us find a Kalashnikov used in sectarian killings," the DIG said. The militant has also reportedly confessed to being involved in the murder of Hussain Ali Yousafi - chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party, who was shot dead in Quetta on January 26, 2009. "Following the information provided by Abbas about his colleagues, police are planning more raids in Bolan, Mach and Naseerabad districts with the hope to bust the gang involved in sectarian killings in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan. A team of senior police officers is investigating the matter," said the DIG.

Six oil tankers carrying fuel for the NATO forces based in Afghanistan were torched in two separate attacks in Bolan and Khuzdar. Police sources in Bolan said that unidentified armed men torched five tankers, carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, in the Mach area, some 60 kilometres south of the provincial capital Quetta. An oil tanker driver was killed and two others were wounded when an exchange of fire took place.

A blast was heard in Quetta late in the night. Police said the explosion occurred near a shop close to Khojak Road, but provided no further information.

A bomb exploded in Quetta. However, no loss of life or property was reported. According to Police sources, unidentified people had placed a bomb near the passport office.

Security Force personnel patrolling an area in the Turbat town of Makran District survived a bomb attack. Sources said that militants fixed an explosive device to a motorbike and parked it near a graveyard to blow up a FC patrolling vehicle. The device was detonated through remote control when the FC vehicle passed through the place. The vehicle was partially damaged. "All FC men remained unhurt," a Police official said.

A Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and his driver were injured in a bomb blast on Spiny Road in Quetta, the Balochistan capital. The Saddar Station House Officer Abid Bukhari said DIG (Operations) Shahid Nizam Durrani was on his way to office in his staff car when the bomb exploded. He said the remote-controlled device was planted in a roadside drain, adding that the DIG and his driver were rushed to Civil Hospital. However, a passer-by, identified as Haji Muhammad, died on the spot. Eight persons, mainly Policemen, were injured in the blast. Police have reportedly arrested at least 50 suspects for questioning in this regard. No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion thus far.

Police arrested three suspected suicide bombers from a house in the Arbab Town and recovered 300 kilograms of explosives from them. The Saddar Superintendent of Police, Farrukh, said, "The men were preparing for suicide attacks in Quetta."

Rockets fired at the DIG of Police's office in Quetta, the Balochistan capital, hit the houses of Hindu and Christian minorities near Spiny Road. According to official sources, the two rockets were meant to hit the office of Balochistan DIG Shahid Durrani, who had survived an earlier assassination attempt on November 17. One of the rockets landed in the Christian Colony, damaging the house of Haji Yar Mohammad on Spiny Road. The rocket damaged the boundary wall of the house and shattered the windowpanes of nearby houses. The second rocket, which was also fired at the same time, exploded in the house of Chaman Lal, a Hindu, after hitting the boundary wall of Almas Joseph's house. Locals said the rockets had damaged several houses, but there were no casualties. The attack, which is believed to have targeted the DIG office, took place a day after a remote control blast in the provincial capital. Although the DIG escaped unhurt, one civilian was killed and eight others injured. According to sources, the banned Sunni group LeJ had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The FIA detained two men at the Quetta International Airport, one of them a suspected Al Qaeda operative, as they were boarding a Jeddah-bound flight that was carrying pilgrims for Haj. FIA authorities said they detained the duo, identified as Bashir Ahmed and Burhanuddin, whose names were on the Exit Control List. Bashir was wanted by the Police in Mustang District for attempted murder, while Burhanuddin is a suspected Al Qaeda member.

Five persons, including two women, were injured in rocket attacks in different areas of Quetta. According to the Police, a woman and her two children were injured when a rocket fired from an unspecified place hit their house in Pashtoonabad. Further, a rocket exploded in a house in Essa Nagri, injuring two people. Separately, two houses were damaged by two rockets in the Faqir Mohammad and Jan Mohammad areas. In addition, windowpanes of a house were destroyed when a grenade exploded in its courtyard in the Kalat town.

Unidentified men opened fire at two NATO containers in the Chhoto area, some 15 kilometres from Mastung city, inuring two persons. According to Police, two containers carrying goods for the Afghanistan-based NATO forces were on their way when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire at them. Muhammad Irfan, who sustained serious injuries, was rushed to Quetta while Manzoor Ahmed was shifted to the Mustung Headquarters Hospital.

Unidentified men planted a time bomb in front of a sweet shop in the main bazaar of Mach town, which exploded at 8:55 am, damaging the shop. However, no loss of life was reported.

Police in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, arrested two suspected militants allegedly involved in bomb blasts and damaging railway tracks and electricity poles. The Police had arrested the suspects from a house in the Eastern Bypass area after receiving a tip-off. They also recovered an unspecified quantity of explosives from the suspects' possession.

November 23

Two Policemen were shot dead in Quetta in what appeared to be a case of target killing. The Policemen, Sardar Muhammad Samalani and Syed Amir Muhammad Khilji, were on routine patrol on Qambrani Road when unidentified assailants opened fire at them, Police said.

November 24

Unidentified gunmen torched four vehicles carrying fuel for the NATO forces, the Police said. The attack took place overnight in the Jafarbad District, south of provincial capital Quetta. "Unidentified gunmen started firing on a convoy of 15 oil tankers, triggering a fire and destroying four oil tankers," District Police Chief Ghulam Farid said. The gunmen are reported to have fled immediately.

The Federal Government unfolded a five-tier multi-dimensional special package for the Balochistan province - combining political, administrative and economic initiatives - in a joint sitting of parliament. The package, named Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan, was presented by the Pakistan People’s Party Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, who heads the seven-member parliamentary committee, which finalised the package in consultation with the political leadership in parliament and other stakeholders. The five-tier package - constitutional, political, administrative, economic and monitoring mechanism - envisages the withdrawal of the Army from Sui that would be replaced with the Frontier Corps, a fact-finding commission, headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court/high court, to probe into the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti, inquiry by the superior judiciary into the murder of Baloch political workers, including Ghulam Muhammad, Lala Munir and Munir Ahmed, and target killings in the province. The package also included the release of all political workers and withdrawal of cases against those who have no charges, while the missing persons with charges would be brought before a court of competent jurisdiction for trial within seven days. Such missing persons would be allowed legal counsel of their choice and the Government would assist them in this regard. Family members of such persons be informed accordingly and allowed visiting rights.

The exiled Baloch leaders rejected the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package on the grounds that it doesn’t go far enough to meet their main problems. Hyrbyair Marri, the London-based leader of the Marri tribe, while opposing any compromise with the Government called the package a "mockery and a cruel joke" with the people of Balochistan and said it falls short of Baloch expectations and was only an exercise in buying more time. He said "This package is misleading. It’s another trap set for us to convince us that the federation pains for us and wants the solution of our miseries." Marri said President Zardari and his Government may have good sentiments but they were powerless and the real powers rest with the military establishment. Mir Suleman Dawood Khan, the current Khan of Kalat, said the Government failed to take all stakeholders on board and didn’t consult those it didn’t like. "Baloch nationalist parties were not consulted and only allies of the current government were informed about it a few days ago," he said. Noordin Mangal, another leader, said the package doesn’t address the real problems of the Baloch people.

Three leading Balochistan tribes - Marris, Mengals and Bugtis - described the Balochistan package as a political gimmick and charged that it was like rubbing salt into the wounds of the Baloch people. The late Nawab Akbar Bugti’s son and President of the Jamhoori Watan Party, Talal Bugti, charged that the package was prepared by the invisible forces and not by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s team or a parliamentary committee. "The prime minister in his address to the parliament’s joint session said the FC would remain in Balochistan, which means, no change in the status-quo. If they are not serious, which I believe, we have the option to knock at the doors of the United Nations," Talal warned. The Balochistan National Party-Mengal Vice-President Sajid Tareen said in Quetta that what had been announced in the package had never been the demand of Balochistan’s people. "Our stand remains unchanged that the federating units must be treated as per the 1940 Pakistan Resolution," he said.

November 27

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party’s chief Nawaz Sharif said that killers of Nawab Akbar Bugti should be brought to justice for peace in Balochistan, a private TV channel reported.

December 7

A car bomb blast injured nine persons and damaged several vehicles and shops in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Sources said that at least nine persons, including two children, were injured when the explosion occurred at the main gate of the Junior Assistant Colony in the Chaman Housing Society. Police said the explosives-laden vehicle blew up 30 minutes after unidentified men left it at the gate of the residential colony. An Assistant Commissioner was also injured in the blast.

December 8

The Saryab station house officer and two other Policemen were injured in a hand-grenade attack on a Police convoy on the Sabzal Road in Quetta of Balochistan. Police sources said SHO Jamil Marri was on routine patrol in the area when unidentified militants hurled a hand-grenade at his vehicle.

December 15

Unidentified militants hurled a grenade at a Police bus in Quetta of Balochistan. Police sources said the bus was slightly damaged and caused no casualties.

A pipeline supplying gas to Loti Gas Field in Zain Koh area was blown up at Sui. The Police sources said unidentified militants planted a bomb near the 16-inch pipeline, adding the explosion destroyed a portion of the pipeline.

Unidentified militants torched two NATO oil tankers in Spiny Road of Quetta. Officials said the unidentified militants opened fire on the tankers on Spiny Road and managed to escape from the scene.

A Baloch Senator said there is no proof that New Delhi is fomenting trouble there (Balochistan). In a statement that could embarrass Pakistan, which has claimed that India is fuelling unrest in Balochistan, the Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo said that "We don’t have a proof. As a representative of Baloch people and a leader of a National Party, I have no information on this. Maybe, intelligence agencies of India and Pakistan have knowledge about it". Asking India to realise the threat posed by terrorism in its neighbourhood, the Senator said terror emanating from Afghanistan reached Pakistan in no time and New Delhi should keep this fact in mind.

December 16

Unidentified militants blown up two gas pipelines in separate incidents in Dera Bugti of Balochistan, causing disruption of gas supply to many parts of Karachi. Local sources said that unidentified militants blew up a 16-inch diameter gas pipeline at Loti area of Dera Bugti, which was connected to well number 2. Another 30-inch gas pipeline passing from Sui was also damaged by unidentified militants. The attack disrupted the supply of gas to several parts of Karachi.

December 17

Two personnel of the FC were injured in Khuzdar District of Balochistan after unidentified militants opened fire on a routine patrol party. The FC team came under attack in Zehri area of Khuzdar while on a routine patrol. The attackers opened fire on the FC team and injured two personnel. The FC retaliated, but the militants managed to escape. The injured officials were moved to a hospital where their condition was reported to be stable. Following the incident, the FC cordoned off the area and began a search for the attackers. At least five suspects were detained by the FC in connection with the attack. No group has so far accepted responsibility for the assault.

December 19

At least three personnel of the Balochistan Constabulary, including a DSP, were killed and another two injured when unidentified militants opened fire at them in Quetta of Balochistan. Sources said that DSP Habibullah Qaisarani had left his home for office when the militants, riding a motorcycle, ambushed his car on the Jail Road. Habibullah, Assistant Sub-Inspector Muhammad Aslam and Constable Shafiq Ahmed died on the spot. The driver of the van, Nazeer Ahmed, and another constable Muhammad Yasir were injured in the attack.

December 24

Two people were killed and another two sustained serious injuries in a landmine explosion in Phelawagh village of Dera Bugti in Balochistan on. The deceased were identified as Saifullah and Shah Gul, who were killed when their vehicle hit a landmine in Phelawagh village.

December 29

A bomb blast near a hotel in Sibi of Balochistan injured the driver of a NATO oil tanker and damaged his vehicle. Police sources said the drivers parked the oil tankers near a local hotel in Sibi at night, during which, unidentified militants placed two boxes filled with explosives under the tankers. The explosives detonated as soon as the driver switched on the engine in the morning, injuring the driver and damaging the vehicle.

December 30

Two persons, including a union council nazim (member) from the Pakistan PML-Q, were killed at Sultan Ibrahim Road in Khuzdar of Balochistan after unidentified militants riding motorcycle fired at a garage. Local Police sources said, Abdul Rasheed, a union council nazim belonging to the PML-Q, was killed while he was having his vehicle repaired at a garage on Sultan Ibrahim Road. The firing also resulted in the death of a mechanic identified as Muhammad Riaz.