Terrorism-related Incidents in Quetta – 2009

	Date	Incident
1	January 4	Armed men killed a trooper of the Balochistan Constabulary, identified as Abdul Hakeem, in the Shallkot area of Quetta. No group claimed responsibility for the killing. The attack appeared to be a targeted killing – the first of its type directed against a Government functionary in 2009.
2	January 5	Unidentified assailants killed two Shias in Quetta, despite tight security arrangements due to Muharram. Police sources said motorcyclists attacked two Hazaragi-speaking members of the Shia community, identified as Muhammad Essa and Muhammad Khan, on Kirani Road.
3	January 12	Unknown miscreants lobbed a hand grenade into the house of a Railway guard at the Railway Colony. However, no casualty was reported.
4	January 14	Unidentified assailants killed four Policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, in a shootout. Motorcyclists ambushed a Police team on Sariab Road at around 11am, killing four Policemen. Three of the murdered Policemen belonged to Hazara community and were Shia. The outlawed Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the killings, which reportedly appear to be part of a recent series of target killing of Shias in the provincial capital that has claimed six lives in a month.
5	January 24	Two persons of Punjabi origin were shot dead in a targeted killing on the Sariab road in Quetta. The victims, identified as Muhammad Farooq and Shahzad Ahmed, were both residents of Rahim Yar Khan District of Punjab. The BLA spokesman Bibarg Baloch claiming the responsibility for the killings told that the men were killed in reaction to the "ongoing genocide of the Baloch people by the Pakistan Army". He said the BLA had formally asked all 'Punjabi citizens' to leave Balochistan or face the consequences. "Those who followed our warnings have already left, but those who refuse to quit Balochistan will be targeted in the future," he warned. The BLA spokesman also claimed the two men were intelligence agents.
6	January 26	Personnel of the FC had to be called in to maintain law and order in Quetta after fierce clashes erupted between Police and an angry mob following the killing of Chairman Hazara Democratic Party, Hussain Ali Yousufi of the Shia community. Yousufi, who was running a travel agency on the Dr Bano Road, was entering his office at 10:30am (PST) when some unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on him with automatic weapons. The armed men later escaped from the incident site. At least 13 persons were injured when clashes among angry protestors, Police and traders took place on the Shahra-e-Iqbal and Jinnah Road. The protesters also torched several vehicles, motorcycles and a bank on the Jinnah Road. Four vehicles, a commercial bank and two motorcycles were set ablaze as clashes continued for several hours. Police later claimed to have arrested 21 suspects, including three activists of a banned religious organization, on charges of killing Hussain Yousufi.
7	February 2	A top United Nations (UN) official was kidnapped and his driver was killed after his vehicle was ambushed in Quetta. John Solecki, head of the UN High Commission for Refugees office in Quetta, was going to office from his nearby residence in the Chaman Housing Society when the gunmen in a car opened fire on his vehicle. Even as the driver was seriously wounded as their vehicle crashed into a wall, the gunmen abducted Solecki, who is an American national, at gunpoint. The driver, Syed Hashim Hazara, later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
8	February 2	Unidentified gunmen killed a Shia trader in Quetta in an attack apparently linked to the recent cycle of sectarian killings in the provincial capital. Syed Iqbal Zaidi, a resident of Quetta's Shahbaz Town locality, was driving home when two men on a motorcycle shot him near Sariab Bridge on Zargoon Road and fled, Police said.
9	February 3	Police detained as many as 15 suspects in connection with the kidnapping of the UNHCR Balochistan chief. Police sources told the media that security agencies raided some parts of the city and arrested 15 suspects following the kidnapping of John Peloski on February 2 while he was on his way to office. His driver, identified as Mohammad Hashim Raza, was killed while resisting the kidnapping bid. The suspects were detained from Kuchlak, Kharotabad, Chandni Chowk, Ghousabad and others areas.
10	February 5	A main gas pipeline was blown up in the Sardar Karez area in the suburb of Quetta. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited chief Mushtaq Siddiqi said unknown men planted explosives material in the 18-inch pipeline which went off, resulting in disruption of gas supply to Mastung, Kalat, Pishin and Ziarat and a power-generating plant in the suburb of Quetta.
11	February 11	SF personnel raided a house in Pashtoonabad on the outskirts of Quetta and arrested six suspected Taliban militants.
12	February 11	Gas supply was suspended in some parts of the Sariab area when unidentified assailants blew up a pipeline while a house was attacked with a hand-grenade. Police said the assailants planted the explosive device under the pipeline in the Killi Mengalabad area and blew it up, disrupting gas supply to several areas on the outskirts of Quetta.
13	February 12	Gas supply to a large number of consumers was suspended after unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in the Kirani area. According to Police, the militants blew up the pipeline by planting an explosive device, suspending gas supply to over 1,000 households in the area.
14	February 13	Security agencies raided a house and arrested five suspected suicide bombers in the Pashtoonabad area. Religious paraphernalia and pictures of Taliban leaders were confiscated from the rented house, an unnamed official said, adding that, the arrested persons are being interrogated at a secret location. "Preliminary investigation reveals that three of the suspected bombers are residents of Waziristan and two are locals," the official said. He said the five would-be bombers had links with the banned TTP.
15	February 15	A bomb blast in the Wahdat Colony destroyed the windows of nearby houses within the jurisdiction of Saddar Police station. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.
15	February 18	In a suspected sectarian incident, unidentified men killed the Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat-Noorani provincial leader Maulana Iftikhar Ahmed Habibi in Quetta. Police said Habibi, who was also a regular Islamic commentator on the Pakistan Television, was killed by unidentified men when he was on his way to work. "This is an act of sectarianism carried out by those who had previously threatened to kill Habibi," Mir Abdul Qudoos Sasooli, the provincial president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, said. "The murder was carried out by the activists of banned organisations which are operating now under new names," he said, giving the Balochistan Government a 72-hour ultimatum to arrest the murderers.
16	February 24	A Shia trader and three of his sons were shot dead in an apparent sectarian attack in Quetta. Ghulab Shah, a hardware trader of Afghan origin, was returning home with his six sons at about 8pm when four gunmen ambushed his car on the high-security Sariab Road. Shah and three of his sons died instantly, while two of them were injured.
17	March 1	In an apparent act of sectarian violence in Quetta, unidentified men murdered a man and his son, both from the Shia sect. The motorcycle borne attackers opened fire on the victims at their shop on Quetta’s Double Road, killing Haji Sakhi and his son, Ghulam Ali, on the spot. No one has claimed responsibility for the killing.
18	March 3	Five Shias were killed in Quetta when unidentified assailants attacked members of a family in the city - taking the death toll from sectarian attacks in a single week to 12. According to Police, the assailants ambushed a van carrying the Shia family on the eastern bypass of Quetta – killing five people on the spot. The slain civilians were returning to Quetta from the Mach area when they were targeted. "It is a target killing," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Wazir Khan Nasar said. Although no group claimed responsibility for the incident, the killings are reported to be part of a series of sectarian attacks that started in Quetta a couple of months ago. The banned Sunni terrorist group, LeJ, has accepted responsibility for most of the recent attacks.
19	March 5	Gas supply to a large number of consumers was suspended after unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in the Kirani area. According to Police, militants blew up a 4-inch gas pipeline by planting explosives in Kirani, suspending gas supply to over 1,000 households in the area.
20	March 9	Unidentified men on a motorbike killed two Shias in an apparent sectarian attack in Quetta. The victims were shot in their car on Kirani road, on the outskirts of the Balochistan capital. "Two men from the Shia community were shot dead by unknown gunmen riding a motorbike," a Police official said. No one claimed responsibility for the killings. The attack came a week after five Shias were killed in another drive-by shooting in Quetta.
21	March 18	The Frontier Corps (FC) arrested two persons and seized 300 kilograms of explosives during a raid in the Sariab Road area. The explosives had been packed in bags and stored in the basement of a shop dealing in automobile spare parts at the Hazar Ganji bus stop. Taking to reporters, FC Inspector General Major General Salim Nawaz said, "The material seized in the raid is enough for making 150 powerful bombs and causing immense loss."
22	April 5	Six Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were killed in a remote-controlled bomb attack targeting a Security Forces convoy in the Sohbatpur area. According to a private TV channel, a man who claimed to be a spokesman for the Baloch Republican Army phoned various media organisations and claimed responsibility for the attack.
23	April 11	Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a Police official in Quetta, said senior Police officer Rana Khalid. In another drive-by shooting, gunmen killed one person and wounded another, he said. "Both incidents could be linked to a three-day strike being observed in the province" since the bodies of three separatist politicians were found on April 9, he said.
24	April 13	A Policeman was shot dead and a civilian sustained bullet wounds in Quetta, a Police official said. The official said the Policeman, Niaz Ali, was patrolling on a motorbike, when unidentified armed militants opened fire at him on Sariab Road. Saeed Ahmed, a passer-by, also sustained bullet injuries.