QUETTA: Militants killed six personnel of a pro-government tribal peace force in the Dalbar-Mat area of Dera Bugti district on Saturday.

Official sources said that a group of armed militants attacked a checkpost of the tribal peace force, killed one man and kidnapped five others along with their weapons.

According to reports, the militants later killed the five kidnapped men.

“One body has been recovered, while four others are yet to be traced,” an official of Levies force said.

When contacted, Dera Bugti’s Deputy Commissio-ner Syed Faisal Shah confirmed that the armed militants had attacked the checkpost.

One member of peace force was killed on the spot, while five others were kidnapped. He, however, did not confirm the killing of five kidnapped members of the peace force. “There are such reports, but we cannot confirm them,” he said.

Provincial Home Secretary Akbar Durrani also confirmed the incident, but said that the news about the killing of five kidnapped members of the tribal peace force could not be verified through official sources.

“We are trying to know about the fate of the kidnapped people,” he told Dawn.

Security forces were chasing the militants, he added.

Levies authorities identified two members of the peace force as Mureed and Sachal whose bodies were brought to Sui hospital.

Levies sources also confirmed that a vehicle of security forces hit a landmine in the Tali-Mat area while chasing the kidnappers.

“A solider of the Frontier Corps was killed and another was injured in the landmine blast,” Levies sources said.

Meanwhile, spokesman for the banned Baloch Republican Army (BRA), Sarbaz Baloch, claimed responsibility for the killing of tribal peace force members. He also confirmed kidnapping of five others.

TRIBAL CLASH: Two members of the Bugti tribe were killed in a landmine explosion in the Tali-Mat area of Dera Bugti district on Saturday.

Levies sources said that two brothers — Noor Mohammad Bugti and Tango Khan Bugti — were going to their home when their motorbike hit the landmine.

Noor Mohammad Bugti died on the spot, while his brother succumbed to his injuries in hospital.