QUETTA, July 3: Police arrested six suspected separatist militants from a hospital here on Wednesday. Those arrested included two injured men who were under treatment at the hospital.

Sources said that police and personnel of the Anti-Terrorism Force raided the private hospital in the Zarghoon Road area on a tip-off and arrested the suspects. They were taken to an undisclosed place for interrogation.

“They are being interrogated,” Deputy Inspector General (operations) Fayyaz Ahmed Sumbal said.

Presently, the official said, he was not in a position to say anything about the suspects, including their affiliation.

But, sources in the intelligence community claimed the suspects belonged to a banned separatist militant organisation. They were bringing explosives and ammunition from Afghanistan.

When they reached Shorawak area in Nushki district near the Afghan border, a blast took place in their vehicle, killing one of the militants and injuring two.

The man killed in the blast belonged to Nushki and was buried in his native village, the sources claimed.

“The suspects wanted to carry out terrorist activities in Quetta and other areas of Balochistan,” they claimed.

Muhammad Ziaul Haq and Maqsood, who were severally injured in the blast, were brought to the Quetta hospital a few days ago, the sources said.

The remaining suspects — who were at the hospital to look after the injured — included Abdul Salam, Haji Mir Hatim, Maulvi Ali and Muhammad Rafiq, they said. The six suspects, they said, had been handed over to the officials concerned, a reference to intelligence organisations.

Meanwhile, the Frontier Corps (FC) pre-empted a possible terrorist attack in Quetta by arresting two suspects in a raid in Killi Nasarran in Kuchlak area, 30km from here, on Quetta-Chaman road.

An FC spokesman said a search operation was conducted in Killi Nasarran on a tip-off about the presence of suspected terrorists and arms and ammunition. The FC personnel arrested two young suspects from the house where arms and ammunition were dumped.

“Both teenaged suspects were handed over to the authorities concerned for interrogation,” he said. The arms and ammunition recovered from the house included two improvised explosive devices, an AK47 rifle with eight magazines and 700 rounds, a 7MM rifle, a pistol with six magazines, two telescopes, six magazine of M16, seven silencers, 200 rounds of 3X3, 110 rounds of 9MM pistols and 550 rounds of 8MM rifles.

In another action, Levies defused a bomb and arrested two suspects in Dhadar area of Bolan district. The bomb had been planted on the railway track linking Quetta with other parts of the country.