Police station, troops come under attack

QUETTA: Attackers fired rockets and assault rifles at a police station and a paramilitary post in separate incidents in Jaffarabad, 400 kilometres southeast of Quetta. No injuries were reported.

Late Friday, 18 rockets were fired at a police station in Jaffarabad, said police official Khadim Hussain Rind on Saturday. Three of the rockets damaged a wall, but the rest slammed into a nearby field. The assailants also fired dozens of rounds from AK-47s.

Separately, four rockets were fired at a paramilitary checkpoint in neighboring Sui, about 350 kilometres southeast of Quetta, but landed in a deserted area without causing damage.

No one claimed responsibility for either attack and no arrests were reported.

Authorities suspect the involvement of local tribesmen who are seeking more royalties from the government for natural gas extracted from their territory.

Early Saturday, paramilitary troops seized a cache of arms – 171 rockets, 89 artillery shells and seven grenades – in mountains near Zhob, said spokesman Col Mohammed Rizwan Malik.

No one was arrested. Malik said authorities were trying to find out who owned the weapons. ap

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