Baloch militant group vandalises gas pipeline transporting fuel to Karachi

The Baloch Republican Guards claimed responsibility for blowing up a major gas pipeline carrying fuel from Sui to Karachi in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Balochistan Liberation Front reported attacks on military checkpoints in Balochistan, escalating regional security tensions

Quetta: The Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) took responsibility for damaging a major gas pipeline transporting fuel from Balochistan’s Sui gas field to Karachi, local media reported.

In a statement, BRG spokesperson Dostain Baloch said that the group’s fighters attacked a 36-inch diameter gas pipeline on Wednesday evening near the Kashmore region in Pakistan’s Sindh province using explosive materials.

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According to the spokesperson, the explosion severely damaged the pipeline carrying natural gas from Sui to Karachi.

Reiterating its opposition to what BRG described as the exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources, the group warned that it would continue targeting such activities, The Balochistan Post reported.

In a separate incident, the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) carried out a series of attacks against Pakistani forces in the Tump area of Balochistan, killing 15 military personnel. In a statement released to the media, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said the group’s fighters launched a coordinated attack on March 8 in the Apsi Kahn area near Tump.

According to the statement, multiple BLF units encircled two sections of a Pakistani military checkpoint located at the Apsi Kahn and Shapchar junction and carried out the attack using mortars, sniper rifles, rockets, light machine guns and grenade launchers.

The group claimed that the initial assault lasted for approximately an hour, leaving six Pakistani soldiers dead and several others injured, while causing significant damage to the post. The BLF stated that the operation later expanded to include coordinated attacks on three additional military checkpoints located between Apsi Kahn and Shapchar, killing five more soldiers and injuring several others, The Balochistan Post reported.

The spokesperson further alleged that a quadcopter drone deployed by Pakistani forces to track the attackers’ positions was shot down by the BLF fighters during the operation.

The group claimed that BLF fighters detonated an improvised explosive device (IED), destroying a vehicle and killing four additional soldiers, when a Pakistani military unit moved between Abdoui and Shapchar to retrieve the bodies and evacuate wounded personnel.

Separately, the group said that on March 9, its fighters set two gas tanker vehicles ablaze at the Josak Buleda Cross area near Turbat after reportedly puncturing their tyres.

It is alleged that the tankers were transporting gas supplies for industries in Pakistan’s Punjab province. These latest incidents come against the backdrop of escalating attacks by Baloch militant groups targeting Pakistani military and police forces across Balochistan in recent days, resulting in heavy casualties and damage to the infrastructure.