Blast in Pakistan's Baluchistan kills three

Quetta (Pakistan), Aug 29: A bomb went off in a hotel in a town in the gas-rich Pakistani province of Baluchistan today, killing three people, police said.

Violent protests have erupted in several parts of Baluchistan since a Baluch nationalist rebel leader was killed in fighting with security forces on Saturday.

''Three people were killed on the spot while another three are seriously injured,'' Maqsood Anwar, a police officer in the town of Hub, told Reuters.Five or six other people had minor wounds, he said.

Provincial interior minister Shoaib Nausherwani said the blast went off in a roadside hotel in Hub.

He said it was too early to say if the blast was linked to the violent protests over the weekend killing of a veteran Baluch politician, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.

Rebels fighting for autonomy and a greater share of the profits from Baluchistan's gas have been waging a low-intensity insurgency for years.

But they have stepped up their attacks over the past year and have been blamed for several deadly bomb attacks.

REUTERS

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