Gun battle breaks out in Dera Bugti area of SW Pakistan
By Shakeel Tariq - Pakistan Times Staff Correspondent

QUETTA: Fighting broke out between paramilitary forces and Bugti tribesmen in Dera Bugti town on Thursday with conflicting reports about the causalities.

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousaf said ceasefire had been declared and the situation was under complete control.

Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao said Thursday that death toll of Frontier Corps personnel in Dera Bugti firing incident rose to five and 19 others were injured. He categorically denied the impression that 40 personnel were killed.

Sherpao said during the first firing incident, 5 personnel injured and FC retaliated in their defence and firing continued till 8 pm intermittently, during which attackers fired missiles, rickets and other arms and added 150 rockets were fired on FC personnel.

Frontier Corps says that their nine personnel received bullet injuries while Baloch Opposition parties claimed over 50 persons, mostly Hindu minority members including women, were killed and around 150 other injured.

Seriously injured were shifted to hospitals in Lahri, Sibi and Quetta.

When contacted, Lt-Col Rizwan Malik told newsmen that armed Bugti tribesmen ambushed Frontier Corps convoy in Dera Bugti town and opened fire on them. FC jawans had to return fire in self-defence, he added.

He said that FC convoy of six vehicles carrying 40 personnel including DCO Dera Bugti was on its way towards Sui when armed men laid a siege and opened fire on them. He said helicopters were called from Sui town, some 50km from Dera Bugti to evacuate Commandant FC and other people.

He said; help was sought from regular troops from Sui to handle the situation as the armed tribesmen also attacked FC fort from all around and over 150 rockets and mortar shells were fired on it.

Details

Helicopter gunships and heavy weapons were reportedly used as government forces tried to rescue 40 paramilitary troops surrounded by tribesmen, reports BBC.

Balochistan has been tense after tribals blamed army members for the rape of a lady doctor working in the area.

An FC spokesman did not confirm Bugti’s claim about the killing of 40 to 60 people in the clash but said five FC men were killed and 19 wounded in the exchange of fire, adding heavy casualties were also expected on the other side.

The spokesman said 40 FC jawans have been trapped in the area and the help of the army has been sought. The troops along with helicopter gunships have reached the area to rescue the trapped jawans.

Talking to VoG, FC spokesman Col Rizwan did not rule out the use of army to rescue the jawans, saying “we ourselves will first try to rescue them but the possible resources will be used if the trapped jawans could not succeed in moving to safer place.”

But, according to the BBC, it was not clear whether they have been rescued or not.

Colonel Rizwan said the tribesmen used light and heavy weapons. He said regular army troops backed by two military helicopters were sent to tackle the situation.

“The future line of action will be reciprocal and after today the other side should not consider paramilitary forces as weak,” General Dar warned.

Addressing a joint Press conference with provincial minister Shoaib Nosherwani in Quetta, Inspector-General, Frontier Corpse, Shujjat Zamir, said three FC men were killed and eight hurt, one of them seriously, in the clash.

The provincial minister, Nosherwani also did not confirm Bugti’s claim.

About reports that the FC men also targeted Hindu Mohallah in Dera Bugti, the minister said only those points were targeted from where the security forces came under fire.

The minister and IGFC made it clear that no military operation was being conducted in Dera Bugti. They said the FC men only opened fire in self-defence. They said there might be casualties on the other side but they had no information about their number.

A military spokesman blamed Bugti tribesmen for the clash, saying that they had been guilty of similar attacks on security forces and government installations in the past.

A BBC correspondent says, there was a war-like situation in the area, as heavy weapons were used by the two sides.

Reports from Dera Bugti said the fort of Nawab Bugti also came under fire, causing damage to one room.

Dera Bugti houses the country’s largest natural gas installations and local tribes have for years been demanding higher royalties for the resources extracted from their area. The gun battle lasted several hours.

Officials said that several tribesmen might have been killed, reports the Associated Press news agency. There is no official confirmation of casualties from either side.

Ceasefire

Meanwhile, according to Geo, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousaf, said the ceasefire had been declared and clashed stopped between FC jawans and Bugti tribesmen, and the situation there was under complete control.

“Some hand is involved in this incident, and it is a conspiracy against national interests,” he said.

The Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Muhammad Yousaf, on the floor of the assembly, Thursday said Frontier Corps Commandant of Dera Bugti was going to Sui along with District Coordination Officer when local tribesmen forced them to halt and attacked, and firing from both sides was continuing.

He said he talked to Inspector-General of FC and Commandant FC Dera Bugti and asked him not to take any action in retaliation against the people.

Akbar Bugti

Talking to the BBC, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawab Akbar Bugti has claimed that 40 to 60 civilians, including women and children, have been killed in the FC firing in Dera Bugti.

“The FC jawans first resorted to unprovoked fire on a vehicle of our guards on Thursday morning, injuring six of them, and our men also retaliated. After that, heavy fire was simultaneously opened on our men from all the FC check posts as if they were waiting for a signal,” said Akbar Bugti who is also chieftain of Bugti Tribe.

“It was a premeditated attack,” he maintained, saying “they hit the town with mortars.”

The chieftain of the Bugti Tribe said: “It was the Hindu Mohallah which suffered most. Forty to sixty civilians, most of them Hindu women and children, were killed in the firing,” he added.

Responding to a question, he alleged that even his residence was targeted by the FC jawans, saying “the shells landed around me.”

He said a shell landed near his drawing room, killing one of his guards and injuring two others who were sitting around him. The shells landed just nine to ten feet away from them, he added.

“We came under direct fire. I was made target but it is a miracle that I remained safe,” he maintained.

Asked whether thousands of guards deployed at his residence in Dera Bugti also returned fire, Bugti replied: “Our guards did retaliate but the security forces had most sophisticated weapons who targeted us.”

Responding to a question as to why he was targeted, he said: “As to whom they would target if not me. They think that their problem would be resolved if they killed me,” he added.●