Tribal rebels blow up gas pipeline in Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Tribal militants blew up a natural gas pipeline in Pakistan's restive southwestern Baluchistan province on Tuesday, disrupting supplies to two districts, police said.
They used heavy explosives to blow up the pipeline that was supplying gas to Mustung and Qalat districts, local police official Hamid Shakeel said.
"Around 100,000 people living in the two districts are now without gas," he said adding that the pipeline would be restored after 24 hours.
In separate incident, militants attacked a telephone exchange with rockets in Noshki district, 160 km (100 miles) southwest of provincial capital Quetta.
A simmering conflict in Baluchistan, home to Pakistan's largest gas field, flared anew in December after tribesmen mounted a rocket attack on Kohlu town during a visit by President Pervez Musharraf.
Fighting for greater autonomy and more control over the mineral riches, tribal militants regularly blow up gas pipelines, railway lines and electricity transmission lines, and launch rocket attacks on government buildings and army bases.
To win back support in the poorest of Pakistan's four provinces, Musharraf has announced plans for major infrastructure projects in Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
They used heavy explosives to blow up the pipeline that was supplying gas to Mustung and Qalat districts, local police official Hamid Shakeel said.
"Around 100,000 people living in the two districts are now without gas," he said adding that the pipeline would be restored after 24 hours.
In separate incident, militants attacked a telephone exchange with rockets in Noshki district, 160 km (100 miles) southwest of provincial capital Quetta.
A simmering conflict in Baluchistan, home to Pakistan's largest gas field, flared anew in December after tribesmen mounted a rocket attack on Kohlu town during a visit by President Pervez Musharraf.
Fighting for greater autonomy and more control over the mineral riches, tribal militants regularly blow up gas pipelines, railway lines and electricity transmission lines, and launch rocket attacks on government buildings and army bases.
To win back support in the poorest of Pakistan's four provinces, Musharraf has announced plans for major infrastructure projects in Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
posted by Marko at 4/18/2006 08:40:00 AM
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