Gas pipeline destroyed in Pakistan's Balochistan province

Karachi: Militants have blown up a pipeline of a state-run gas company, disrupting supply to several towns and cities, including parts of the capital Quetta, in the restive Balochistan province of Pakistan, officials said Thursday.

The explosion occurred at the KMP-246 Valve Assembly in the Bolan riverbed area near Gorkat, around 700 to 800 metres from the main Quetta-Sibi Road of Kachhi district, a spokesperson of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) said.

The explosion damaged the 18-inch-wide pipeline, disrupting the gas supply since Wednesday night, the spokesperson said.


A senior police officer said the militants had blown the pipeline by planting explosives and detonating it with a remote control.

Security had been increased in the area and security is also being provided to the SSGC teams doing the repair work.

The gas utility said that the management is closely monitoring the situation and working to restore supplies at the earliest.

Militants had damaged and disrupted the gas supply lines of the Sui Southern Gas Company in the past as well, the police official said.

Earlier in the month, militants had blown up a gas pipeline in the Nasirabad area. In May, the gas supply to a vast area of the province was suspended when a gas pipeline was blown up in Dera Bugti.