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.

February 25

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.

February 26

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.

March 1

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.

March 11

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.

March 14

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.

March 23

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.

March 24

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.

March 25

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.

March 26

Two villagers were killed in a landmine explosion in the Rabi Canal area of Naseerabad District. The blast that also injured two others, took place near Rind Camp. Police identified the dead as Nawab Khan and Bakhshu while Muhammad Khan and Ahmed Ali were wounded.

March 27

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.

March 30

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.

April 01

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.

April 02

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.

April 05

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.