Gas leak blast kills family of six in southwest Pakistan — police

In this representational photo, Pakistani volunteers carry a dead body onto an ambulance outside a hospital in Quetta on April 12, 2019. (AFP/File)
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Updated 15 January 2023
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Gas leak blast kills family of six in southwest Pakistan — police

  • Fire started when one family member tried to ignite heater connected to leaking cylinder
  • Relatives of victims transferred bodies to Quetta Civil Hospital, according to hospital spokesperson

QUETTA: A gas explosion in southwest Pakistan killed a family of six, including four children, police said Sunday.

The husband, wife, and their four children died at their home late Saturday night in Quetta’s Satellite Town area. The fire started when one member of the family tried to ignite a heater that was connected to a leaking cylinder.

The children were aged between 4 and 14. Nobody from the family survived.

Relatives of the victims transferred the bodies to Quetta Civil Hospital, said Dr. Waseem Baig, a spokesman for the hospital.

Temperatures in Quetta, Balochistan province, can drop to as low as minus 7 degrees Celsius (19 Fahrenheit) at night, with most households relying on gas cylinders for warmth because they lack access to a main supply.


Pakistan’s Balochistan establishes threat assessment center amid surge in militant attacks

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Pakistan’s Balochistan establishes threat assessment center amid surge in militant attacks

  • Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center brings police, CTD, intelligence agencies together on one platform, says official
  • Says center helps disrupt terror financing, narcotics trafficking, organized crime and enables action against unregulated communication networks

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province has established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said on Monday amid a surge in militant attacks recently. 

Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on social media platform X that the Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center (PIFTAC Balochistan) brings police, the counter-terrorism department (CTD), intelligence agencies and civil administration together on one platform for real-time information sharing and joint analysis. 

“PIFTAC strengthens early warning and prevention against terrorism, helps disrupt terror financing, narcotics trafficking, and organized crime, and enables coordinated action against illegal spectrum and unregulated communication networks,” he wrote.

“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur.”

https://x.com/beyondfiles/status/2010444397163532547

The development takes place amid a steep rise in combat-related deaths in Pakistan during 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.

These deaths included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the local think tank said. 

Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry last week highlighted Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts in 2025, saying that security forces had conducted 75,175 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) and killed 2,597 militants last year. He also said Pakistan reported 5,397 “terrorism incidents” last year. 

Pakistan frequently accuses Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) to operate from its soil, charges Kabul has repeatedly denied.

Islamabad also accuses India of backing these militant groups against Pakistan. New Delhi rejects the allegations.