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| Pakistan on alert after riots over killing of tribal chief | | |
Quetta, Aug 28: Pakistan is on alert for further unrest after violent rioting over the death of a top tribal leader in a military air strike.
One person died and hundreds were arrested as protesters went on the rampage in the resource-rich southwestern province of Baluchistan, where a rebellion has simmered over the past two years.
A curfew was imposed in Quetta and paramilitary forces deployed as angry demonstrators torched buses and buildings, exchanging fire with police and setting off a bomb at a government office south of the provincial capital.
Authorities braced for more trouble on Monday after an alliance of four Baluch parties called for a general strike over the death of colourful tribal chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Bugti, a figurehead of the Baluch insurgency, was one of scores killed in a major attack on his hideout in the province's mountains on Friday.
"We have asked the government to hand over the body of Nawab Akbar Bugti to us because he is a national hero and we want to bury him befittingly," said Kachkol Ali, leader of the four-party alliance.
The colourful, British-educated Bugti fled his former stronghold earlier this year following a military crackdown sparked by a rocket attack during a visit by President Pervez Musharraf in December.
He had been accused of operating private jails and running a feudal justice system, and was blamed for the deaths of dozens of soldiers and police.
Baluchistan has been rocked by a near two-year insurgency blamed on autonomy-seeking tribesmen who also want a greater share of the gas-rich province's natural resources.
Opposition leaders condemned Bugti's killing and national and regional political parties held emergency meetings.
Liaquat Baloch, leader of separate six-party religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, described the killing as "one of the darkest eras in Pakistan's political history."
"It's the worst news for the Baluch nation. I cannot say much as we are busy collecting the bodies," said Shahid Bugti, spokesman for the dead chieftain's Jamhoori Watan Party.
Baluchistan has seen nearly two years of attacks on pipelines, railway tracks and government installations.
Officials say hundreds of people have died since the unrest erupted in late 2004.
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