Rocket barrage slams FC checkpoint at Uch gas field

19 Jul, 2004

At least 18 rockets were fired at a paramilitary checkpoint protecting a gas field in Balochistan, officials said on Sunday.
The attack by suspected "saboteurs" targeted the Frontier Corps (FC) post at Uch gas field on Saturday and the troops responded with machine-gun fire and other weapons, a security official said. No casualties were reported.
"The assailants escaped under the cover of darkness," the official said, requesting anonymity.
FC soldiers also defused two rockets near an airport in the remote gas-rich town of Sui while militants removed a water supply pipeline in the area on Saturday, he said, adding that the water supply was restored early Sunday.
Officials here attribute blasts and rocket attacks to tribal demands for increased royalties for the use of gas from their lands and more jobs for tribes people.

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