KARACHI, 7 May 2005 — Two paramilitary soldiers were injured in a blast close to a railway track, while a main power line was bombed in a restive southwestern Pakistani province yesterday, officials said.
The soldiers were patrolling along a railway track in Bakhtiarabad and found a pair of explosive devices nearby, which exploded when they tried to examine them, paramilitary commander Rizwan Malik told AFP.
Shrapnel from the blast injured the soldiers but there was no damage to the track some 220 kilometers southeast of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, Malik said.
Separately, suspected insurgents blew up a main electricity transmission line pylon in the Mach district, some 70 kilometers south of Quetta. The power line remained intact but long power cuts were necessary to replace the tower. No one had claimed responsibility for the blasts.
However tribesmen demanding more political rights, jobs and royalties from the province’s natural resources have stepped up attacks on rail tracks and power lines.
