Fire put out in Pakistan natural gas town

QUETTA, Pakistan, May 27 (Reuters) Firefighters put out a blaze in Pakistan's main natural gas town after suspected militants blew up two pipelines that disrupted supplies but caused no casualties, officials today said.

The fire that erupted late last night gutted some 50 shops in the town of Sui in southwestern Baluchistan province, where the country's largest gas field is located.

''The fire has been brought under control and engineers have reached the site to do damage assessment,'' a local police official told Reuters.

A spokesman for the state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, which owns the Sui gas field, said there was a temporary disruption in supplies after the incident.

Officials of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL), which is responsible for gas distribution from the field, said supplies to some power plants in the central province of Punjab were affected after the attack.

''We have already started restoring the supplies and hopefully the situation will normalise pretty soon. No other commercial or domestic users were affected anywhere else in the country,'' said K.W. Shariq, SNGPL general manager for transmission.

The fire caused no damage to the gas field on the outskirts of the town, officials said.

Baluch militants, fighting for more autonomy and control over the resources of the province, regularly blow up pipelines, rail links and power pylons, and launch attacks on government buildings and army bases in the province.

The Sui plant was shut for 11 days after a major rocket attack last year in which 15 people were killed. Sui accounts for 45 percent of Pakistan's gas supplies.

The simmering revolt escalated in December when rebels fired rockets during a visit by President Pervez Musharraf to the town of Kohlu.

Baluchistan borders Iran and Afghanistan. It has Pakistan's largest gas and oil reserves. Militants resent its resources being used to benefit other regions.

Musharraf has announced plans for major infrastructure projects in Baluchistan to win back support but has vowed to deal strictly with the rebels.

REUTERS DKS KN1321