Pak forces kill Baloch leader Bugti  [ 27 Aug, 2006 2047hrs IST AGENCIES ]
 RSS Feeds | SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
|
ISLAMABAD:
Prominent tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in a major Army operation
in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province which also left 38 other armed rebels
and 21 security personnel dead, triggering massive violence which prompted
authorities to impose curfew in Quetta and arrest hundreds of
rioters.
"It is confirmed Nawab
Bugti has been killed in an operation," Pakistan's information minister Muhammad
Ali Durrani said here. The Baloch leader's son-in-law, Senator Agha Bugti, also
said that 80-year-old Bugti was killed in the military operation in the gas-rich
Balochistan province.
Besides
the British-educated tribal leader, 38 armed rebels, including Bugti's two
grandsons, were killed in the fighting. At least 21 security personnel also lost
their lives, media reports quoted defence officials as
saying.
All train services to
and from Baolochistan have been cancelled until further notice, local TV
networks said. akistan's security forces imposed curfew in Quetta, the capital
of Balochistan, after the city witnessed unprecedented violence following the
killing of Bugti.
As the news
of Bugti's death spread, parts of Balochistan, including Quetta, experienced
heavy violence and rioting. Angry mobs attacked several banks, petrol pumps and
government offices and torched
vehicles.
Pakistan president
General Pervez Musharraf termed the killing of Bugti in an army operation as a
"great victory" on his personal agenda and congratulated the country's security
forces for the achievement. Political rumblings have already begun in Pakistan
in the wake of Bugti's
killing.
While various
political leaders in Pakistan have strongly condemned the military operation
that resulted in Bugti's death, PM Shaukat Aziz's government is expected to be
on tetherhooks in the coming week, as key ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM),
which offers outside support, is seriously thinking of withdrawing its
cooperation.
|