Balochistan fighting kills many

By M Ilyas Khan
BBC News, Karachi

Tribesman say they are fighting for greater economic rights

At least six Pakistani troops and many separatist rebels have been killed in clashes in south-western Balochistan province, the authorities say.

Troops say they came under attack in the Dera Bugti area late on Saturday. The rebels say 25 innocent people died.

Armed nationalist rebels have targeted natural gas installations in the Dera Bugti area for several years.

They want greater autonomy and local control over Balochistan's resources such as oil and gas.

Camps 'destroyed'

The latest clashes broke out after a security patrol came under rocket attack from the rebels in the Uch area on Saturday, Frontier Corps official Lt Col Shahid Mahmood Khan said in a statement.

He said troops returned fire, and chased the rebels into the mountains where they found and destroyed two rebel camps.

He said a large cache of arms and ammunition had been recovered.

Lt Col Khan said six troops and a "large" number of rebels had died in the exchanges of fire on Sunday.

Meanwhile, reports from the area say at least 19 people, including six security personnel, have been injured in bomb attacks in three different areas in the region.

The Frontier Corps has not confirmed the reports.

A spokesman for the Balochistan Republican Army (BRA), Sarbaz Baloch, confirmed that 25 people had been killed in the security operation on Sunday.

But he denied they were rebels. He said they were innocent tribesmen.

The BRA is said to be led by Brahmdagh Bugti, a grandson of nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti who was killed by the army in 2006.

Rebel 'hub'

Security forces have been fighting to clear rebels from Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts in eastern Balochistan.

The two neighbouring districts are believed to have been a hub of rebel activity since 2000, when the former military government of President Musharraf made known its intention to issue oil exploration contracts for the area.

To contain the backlash from the killing of Akbar Bugti in 2006, the government arrested a large number of political leaders and activists and charged them with serious offences, including treason.

The new Pakistani government, which took power in March, took a number of steps to defuse tension in the province.

Most arrested nationalist leaders were released, and nearly 7,000 security troops were pulled out of some important provincial cities to bring what officials called "a state of siege" in Balochistan to an end.

But troops have not been withdrawn or reduced in the Dera Bugti region, which is home to Pakistan's major gas fields and gas distribution grids.