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Curfew in Pakistani City After Rebel Leader Killed
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=13AD7D2:A6F02AD83191E16065B5C20F9C3AF5D79574F7DCC14957C0 Protesters took to
the streets of Quetta, following news that Nawab Akbar Bugti was
killed in a major military operation Pakistan says it has killed a
rebel tribal leader during a combat operation in the southwestern
province of Baluchistan.  The tribal leader's death has sparked has
widespread riots in the provincial capital, Quetta









Armed police in vehicles patrolling streets in Quetta, August 27,
2006The government has imposed a 24-hour curfew in the city of Quetta,
to put down violence that erupted Saturday almost immediately after
news of Nawab Akbar Bugti's death became public.

Hundreds of Bugti's supporters rioted throughout the night. At least a
dozen buses and other vehicles were torched near the local university,
and piles of burning tires blocked a number of key city roads.



Bugti, once governor of Baluchistan province, was a central figure in
a violent campaign to secure greater control over the province's
resources, including valuable natural gas deposits.

The central government calls him a terrorist, and accuses his
supporters of targeting government outposts and destroying local
infrastructure, including natural gas pipelines.

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao says security forces attacked Bugti's
mountain hideout Saturday, after government helicopters came under
heavy fire from an isolated cave.

"It is presumed that Akbar Bugti and a number of other terrorists were
occupying this cave, and they are presumed dead," said Sherpao.

Government officials say more than 20 militants were killed in the
strike.

Sherpao says the operation was a significant victory for the
government and its campaign against tribal militants in the area.

But there is concern that Bugti's death could cause more, not less,
tribal resistance.

Opposition political leader Raza Rabbani says the government has been
too quick to use the military to try to resolve what is largely a
political conflict.

"The people of Baluchistan feel that their economic and political
rights have been deprived," he said. "By using state force, all that
we have done is further alienate Baluchistan."

The government launched its latest offensive against Bugti last
December, after tribal militants fired rockets at President Pervez
Musharraf during an official visit to Baluchistan.

The Pakistani military has been placed on high alert throughout the
country to prevent any further unrest connected to Bugti's death.

 


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