| Bugtis are getting to be a major irritation, I see... |
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said on Wednesday the federal government would take necessary punitive action, including military action, against the renegade tribesmen who attacked gas plants at Sui in Balochistan. The Balochistan government has been asked to review the situation and recommend to the federal government the action required to normalise the situation in the province, Sherpao said at a press conference. He said three officials of the Frontier Constabulary and four civilians had been killed and nine injured in shooting between security personnel and miscreants. He did not say how many tribesmen had been killed or injured. Sherpao said that a purification plant at Sui had been damaged by firing from the miscreants over the last five days. The minister said it could take three months to repairs the plant, which could mean gas load-shedding in many parts of the country. The purification plant was shut down after it started leaking poisonous gas. He said the Sui plant supplied 22 percent of Pakistan's gas.Sherpao said security agencies had seized 14,000 bullets, 425 rocket launchers and 60 multi-barrel guns which were fired from a Bugti colony and a Muhammadi colony near Sui. The two colonies housed more than 25,000 inhabitants and almost 70 percent had now migrated, he said. He said that the miscreants had occupied towers 10 and 11 of the Sui plant, which were later reoccupied by Frontier Constabulary soldiers after a shootout. Sherpao said the parliamentary committee on Balochistan would present its recommendations to the federal government very soon. Committee members had met Baloch leaders and asked them to suggest solutions to the problems of the province. He said the government did not want to ruin the current dialogue with tribal elders and other Baloch leaders.