Crackdown in Pakistan after seven soldiers die

Submitted by Tarique Anwar on 15 June 2007 - 8:32am.

By DPA

Islamabad : Police launched a crackdown on suspected militants in Pakistan's south-western city of Quetta early Friday after seven soldiers and two other people were killed in an ambush the previous night, officials said.


Four gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on a van carrying troops late Thursday as the vehicle left a railway station where the troops had arrived after vacations, Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad told DPA.

Nine people, including seven soldiers and a policeman, were killed and five others were injured in the attack, Arshad said.

Shortly after the incident, the police sealed Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, and arrested at least 28 people, mostly activists of a nationalist party. A senior leader of the Balochistan National Party was among them.

A purported spokesman for the rebellious Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the ambush in a telephone call made to a press club in the provincial capital.

The attack came hours after US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher visited the city where he met government and opposition politicians to discuss Pakistan's political situation and its contributions towards the US-led war on terrorism.

Balochistan has been witnessing a prolonged insurgency, with rebels targeting public infrastructure like power lines and railway tracks.

The insurgent groups seek greater provincial autonomy and claim that Balochistan is not receiving its due share of profits from exploitation of natural resources in the area.