Three killed, 11 hurt, in Pakistani blast

QUETTA, Pakistan, June 12 (Reuters) A bomb exploded on a road in the Pakistani town of Quetta today, killing three people and wounding 11, police said.

''The explosion went off near a hotel. At the moment, we have received three bodies and 11 injured,'' senior Quetta police official Zahid Afaq told Reuters.

''The numbers of casualties could be high as injured are being brought to hospitals,'' said Afaq, who declined to speculate on who might be responsible for the bomb.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan, Pakistan's biggest but poorest province, where autonomy-seeking militants are battling the government for greater control of gas resources.

Another senior provincial policeman, Ghulam Mohammad Dogar, said the blast was caused by a bomb planted on a bicycle. He said he believed militants from the nationalist Baluch Liberation Army were responsible.

Baluch militants say the people of Baluchistan receive little benefit from its natural gas. Baluchistan is Pakistan's main natural gas source.

The rebels have frequently attacked gas facilities, blowing up pipelines, as well as security checkpoints and other government targets.

Quetta has also seen sectarian violence between militants from the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam.

The Baluch nationalist rebels have no links to al Qaeda- and Taliban-linked fighters based on the border with Afghanistan, security officials say.

REUTERS MA SSC1323