Blast in Pakistan's Baluchistan kills six

QUETTA, Pakistan, Sep 8: A bomb exploded next to a clinic in Pakistan's gas-rich Baluchistan province today, killing six people and wounding several, police said.

Police said they suspected insurgents fighting for greater autonomy and a bigger share of profits from Baluchistan's gas resources were responsible for the blast in the town of Rakhni.

Tension in the province has been high since the killing of a veteran Baluch nationalist leader, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, in a government offensive on August 26.

Initially, two people were killed in the blast today but four later died of their wounds, police said.

''It was a time bomb planted in a dustbin,'' said police official Hafiz Inayat. ''Three injured are still said to be in critical condition.'' It was not immediately clear if the clinic was the bombers' target.

Nationalist Baluch rebels have waged a low-key insurgency for decades but in the past year they have stepped up attacks on infrastructure, including gas pipelines, and security posts.

Several people were killed in violent street protests after Bugti's death and a bomb in a roadside cafe in another part of the province killed three people.

Politicians and analysts said the death of Bugti, a former provincial governor, was likely to inflame opposition to the government in Pakistan's biggest but poorest province.

The province of mountains and deserts, which shares borders with both Afghanistan and Iran, has Pakistan's biggest reserves of natural gas.

REUTERS

Related Stories
Blast in Pakistan's Baluchistan kills two