Karachi: Pakistani authorities expect more attacks in Balochistan and Sindh by Baloch nationalists spurred by the killing of tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti, official said yesterday.

Angry mobs have already set ablaze a number of government buildings in towns and cities in Balochistan in a spate of violence following the killing of Bugti on August 26. But officials say that the worst is still to come.

"Opposition forces are trying to capitalise on this situation and exploit sentiments of Baloch youngsters," Raziq Bugti, spokesman of the Balochistan provincial government, told Gulf News from Quetta.

"They want to drag this issue by inciting violence in an attempt to destabilise the government," he said. "The government has decided to deal with the law breakers firmly."

But analysts say dealing with the opposition, especially with the Baloch nationalists, is easier said than done. With the killing of Akbar Bugti, both the legal nationalist groups as well as militants have found a figure that could be their rallying cry, they said.

Nationalist groups have already announced their protest plans in Balochistan, while security forces are preparing themselves for a backlash from tribal militants who have a long history of challenging the writ of the government.

The rioting was the immediate public reaction, but the militants can go for far more lethal and deadly attacks, security officials said.

Yesterday, tribal militants blew up a major natural gas pipeline supplying gas to Mustung and Qalat areas in Balochistan by planting explosives underneath it.

Interior Ministry officials say that security has been strengthened around all the three gas fields Sui, Loti and Pirkoh located in Dera Bugti district, which is the home of Nawab Akbar Bugti and meets nearly 30 per cent of Pakistan's natural gas demand.

The huge network of gas gathering and supply lines is also being guarded, but it is next to impossible to keep a round-the-clock vigil on hundreds of kilometres of pipelines which pass mostly through rugged and barren mountain areas, a senior ministry official said.

The electricity supply network, bridges, railway lines, educational institutions all could be the target of the militants, he said.

In recent years, tribal militants escalated their attacks on infrastructure and security forces in an attempt to force the federal government to grant them more political and economic rights.

Akbar Bugti emerged as the main figure for the insurgents in recent years despite the fact that he himself collaborated with the several past governments against the nationalist forces.