Massive Blast on Gas Pipeline Disrupts Supply to Quetta and Northern Balochistan Amid Freezing Cold
QUETTA: Gas supply to Quetta and several towns in northern Balochistan was severely disrupted on Wednesday after militants blew up a major gas pipeline belonging to the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on the outskirts of Quetta, leaving residents grappling with freezing temperatures.
Officials reported that unidentified militants planted explosives under the 18-inch pipeline in the Akhtarabad area near the western bypass, triggering a massive explosion. The blast caused a fire in the pipeline, resulting in a complete shutdown of gas supply to Quetta and surrounding areas.
The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.
“A large section of the pipeline was destroyed in the explosion,” confirmed an SSGC spokesperson. The damage has led to widespread outages across northern Balochistan.
SSGC’s Safdar Hussain described the explosion as an act of sabotage, cutting off gas supply to upper Balochistan and Quetta.
Emergency teams quickly arrived at the site to extinguish the fire by shutting off the main valve. Repair work is set to begin on Thursday morning, pending security clearance from law enforcement agencies.
It is estimated that it will take around 12 hours to fix the eight-foot section of the pipeline.
The attack has left several areas without gas, including Pishin, Kuchlak, Ziarat, Bostan, Yaro, Karbala, Haranzai, and various neighborhoods in Quetta, such as Airport Road, Nawa Killi, Jinnah Town, Khan Zai, A-One City, and Hazar Ganji.
