Blast in Pakistan's Baluchistan kills three

QUETTA, Pakistan, June 9 (Reuters) Three people were killed and nine wounded by a bomb blast outside a hotel in a town in the gas-rich Pakistani province of Baluchistan, police said today.

No one has claimed the responsibility for the blast that occured yesterday night in the province's industrial town of Hub, not far from the port city of Karachi.

The bomb went off just as a bus pulled up outside the hotel.

''It appears to be a remote-controlled bomb and went off soon after a bus carrying factory workers stopped outside the hotel, killing three people,'' a senior police officer, Abdullah Afridi told Reuters.

Authorities have in the past blamed such attacks on Baluch nationalists, who have waged a low-scale insurgency for decades to press for political autonomy and greater share of profits from the region's natural resources.

The rebels have also targetted government officials and infrastructure including gas pipeline and power pylons.

Such attacks were more frequent in early 2006, but dropped off after Pakistani forces killed one of the main rebel leaders, Nawab Akbar Bugti, late last year.

President Pervez Musharraf has promised an amnesty, while vowing to hunt down those who refuse to surrender.

Rebel groups accuse the government of exploiting their resources without passing on the benefits to people of the province.

Gas fields in Baluchistan meet much of Pakistan's demand.

Musharraf is ploughing money into Baluchistan's infrastructure to create more economic opportunities.

REUTERS SV KN1109