Violence spreads in Balochistan

Islamabad: As unrest in Balochistan over the mysterious killing of three Baloch nationalist leaders persisted, gunmen shot dead eight people in separate incidents in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan on Saturday.

Police found bodies of six employees at a coalmine in Margat, a town on the outskirts of Quetta.

The report said the legs and hands of the six were tied and they had been shot in the head at point blank range. Locals identified the slain people as mine workers.

Meerak Baloch, spokesman for a shadowy group called the Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the Margat killings in the name of his group, saying that those targeted were people from Punjab and North West Frontier Province.

"We wanted to give a message to the ethnic Pushtuns from NWFP also because soldiers in the paramilitary Frontier Corps used batons against our women protesters in Quetta," he said.

Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen riding a motorbike shot and killed a paramilitary soldier in Quetta while in Turbat paramilitary force took control in the city after rioting.

In another drive-by shooting gunmen killed one person and wounded another, he said.

"Both incidents could be linked to a three-day strike being observed in the province" since the bodies of three separatist politicians were found on Thursday, he said.

The bodies of Balochistan National Movement president Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, his deputy Lala Munir Ahmad and Balochistan Republican Party activist Sher Mohammad Baloch were discovered near the town of Turbat last week.

Reports said a commercial strike was observed in Quetta and various other cities of the province at the call of Baloch parties to protest the killing of the nationalist leaders.

The United Nations and the US have condemned the killing of the Baloch leaders and called for a thorough investigation in order to bring the culprits to justice.

The American embassy in Islamabad has said one of the three, Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, had played an active role towards the recent release of UNHCR official John Solecki, a US national.

The provincial government headed by the Pakistan Peoples Party has appointed a judicial commission for a probe.

Militant groups from the Baloch community have been involved in a long-running low-scale insurgency in the mineral-rich but poverty-ridden province over demands for autonomy and local control over resources.

A prominent Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, a former provincial governor, was killed in 2006 in a military operation during the regime of military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

A burning issue in Balochistan has been the fate of a large number of people who allegedly went missing during the Musharraf era. Baloch parties believe they had been picked up by security agencies.

President Asif Ali Zardari has apologised for excesses against Baloch people in the past and promised to resole their grievances.

During a recent visit to the region he announced hefty funds for development in Balochistan and said a parliamentary committee would be set up to work out solutions to political and constitutional issues related to the province.

From time to time authorities have pointed an accusing finger at India for allegedly backing sabotage activities in the sensitive province, which borders on Afghanistan.

- With additional inputs from agencies