Strike commemorates rebel Baluch chief in Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan, Aug 26 (Reuters) A strike called to mark the first anniversary today of the death of a rebel tribal chieftain killed by the Pakistan army virtually shut down the southwest province of Baluchistan, police said.

Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, nicknamed the Tiger of Baluchistan, died during an assault on his hideout in the remote hills of the gas-rich province. His death sparked violent protests across Pakistan's poorest and least populated province.

Extra security forces were deployed and put on high alert in case trouble broke out, senior police officer Rehmatullah Niazi told Reuters.

''There's a complete strike almost throughout Baluchistan, but, thank God, no major violent incident has been reported so far,'' Niazi said.

Reuters reporters in Quetta said all shops and markets were closed and there was no public transport in the provincial capital.

A government official said eight people were injured during a police baton charge on Baluch nationalists demonstrating in Wadh town, about 390 km south of Quetta.

Suspected Baluch militants blew up a gas pipeline in Dera Bugti district, about 400 km east of Quetta, disrupting supplies there, police said.

Three soldiers were wounded in a militant attack in Naushki town late yesterday.

Bugti, 70, led an increasingly violent campaign for greater autonomy and a bigger share of profits from the province's resources.

The campaign included attacks on gas facilities, road and rail links and government installations, but it was a rocket attack on a Baluch town during a visit by President Pervez Musharraf in December 2005 that prompted a fierce army offensive during which hundreds of people are said to have been killed.

Musharraf has promised an amnesty, while vowing to hunt down those who refuse to surrender. The government is ploughing money into Baluchistan's infrastructure to create more economic opportunities.

REUTERS KK PM1540