QUETTA, Jan 26: A powerful blast blew up a portion of the railway track on the Quetta-Sibi section at 6:15am on Thursday causing suspension of all traffic for a few hours.

The bomb was planted under the tracks at a place about one kilometre from the Mach railway station.

Pakistan Railways officials stopped all trains between Quetta and Sibi till the completion of repair work.

Deputy Controller of Pakistan Railways Quetta told Dawn that the bomb destroyed about five feet of the track. The repair work was completed in three hours and the railway traffic on the section was restored.

In another incident, the district official of Dera Bugti said that security forces had found landmines in Bekar and Patarnal areas and defused them. The official also said that an exchange of fire took place between outlaws and security forces in the Dera Bugti town. Nobody was hurt.

The JWP spokesman claimed that after a landmine blast in Wagu area, security forces started shelling the town at about 4:30pm. The shelling continued for about 70 minutes, but tribesmen did not retaliate.

The spokesman said that according to his information four militiamen were killed and five were injured when the landmine hit their vehicle.

Meanwhile, an unidentified person hurled a grenade into a house in the Railway Colony on the Joint Road on Thursday night. No one was hurt.