The saboteurs in Balochistan during their latest move blown up a gas pipeline, authorities said here on Wednesday. "A four-foot (1.5 metre) section of the pipeline was blown up," security force commander Khair Mohammad Jamali told Reuters. The ruptured pipeline, which supplied gas from Shikarpur to many parts of the province, was sealed off after the attack. The above mentioned elements have recently stepped up attacks on targets such as natural gas pipelines, electricity pylons and railway lines.
In another attack on Tuesday night, an office of the ruling faction of the Pakistan Muslim League was destroyed by a blast in Turbat town, in the west of the province.
Security has been tightened since an attack on the country's largest gas field in Sui on January 11, in which 15 people were killed. Last Thursday, eight soldiers were killed and 23 wounded in a battle with the militants on the outskirts of Dera Bugti town. A tribal leader said 62 people were killed on his side.
Hundreds of militants have surrounded a security post in the remote town since the battle and a top commander said on Tuesday that the confrontation could degenerate into a major crisis unless a political solution could be found.