Six security personnel were killed and five injured in a remote control bomb blast in Dera Bugti district on Saturday, while security forces arrested five Bugti tribesmen, claimed a Baloch militant organisation. Speaking to Daily Times via satellite phone from an unidentified place, Sarbaz Baloch, a spokesman for an apparently new separatist Baloch outfit, the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), said his organisation accepted responsibility for the remote control bomb blast. However, the BRA claim could not be confirmed through independent sources. The spokesman contended that the BRA had blown up six personnel of the security forces early on Saturday morning, as they conducted a routine patrol in the Sangsila area of Dera Bugti. “More such attacks will follow on the occupant Punjabi army,” warned Sarbaz Baloch, adding that the insurgency would continue until the “complete independence” of Balochistan.
He said the security forces had whisked away five members of the Bugti tribe. “These people tired to offer fateha on the eve of Nawab Bugti’s death anniversary when they were taken away, leaving their families clueless about their whereabouts,” he said. The arrested persons also include a former servant of Akbar Bugti who was identified as Doda Khan.