Gas supply to eastern Pakistan halted as militants blew pipelines

Unknown militants on Monday blew up three gas pipelines coming from southwestern Balochistan province of Pakistan cutting supplies to most of the eastern Punjab province, said officials. The emergency manager on duty for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in the federal capital Islamabad, Ayub Bajwa told KUNA that rebels blew up the pipelines to Punjab province and the outage may last for at least two more days. "This is the first time they have blown all three supply lines to Punjab province simultaneously," he added. He noted that the pipelines are large - 24, 18 and 16 inches in diameter. It will take at least two days to repair them, Bajwa said. Punjab is the most populated and wealthy province of Pakistan that depends largely on Balochistan province for its gas resources. The Managing Director of SNGPL, Arif Hameed said that the gas left in the system was utterly insufficient to meet the demand of domestic consumers in the province. The supply to independent power plants in the province had also been suspended, he added. According to local media reports, a banned Baloch Republican Army has claimed the responsibility of exploding pipelines near the Punjabi town of Rahim Yar Khan city about 600 km south of Islamabad.