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| Saturday, 29 January 2005 |
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Pakistan clears houses from gasfield in standoff with rebel tribesmen SUI, Pakistan, Friday (AFP) Pakistan is to take the most drastic step yet in its bid to crush a deadly tribal rebellion, forcibly evicting all residents within 15 kilometers (10 miles) of the country's biggest gasfield. Renegade clans in the southwestern province of Baluchistan have recently stepped up their fight for increased political rights as well as more royalties and jobs from abundant local natural resources. Three weeks ago they began raining rockets on the state-run natural gas plant at Sui, leaving eight dead. A nationalist group linked to the tribesmen has also bombed the region's main railway line three times in the last week. Now the military says it is to clear 500 dwellings from the area around the gas plant, saying the measure will prevent further attacks and protect residents from the devastating consequences of a major explosion. "I am sure the people of these households are gentle and peaceful citizens, but the terrorists who want to damage this installation are using them as shields against our forces," Colonel Mohammad Mujeeb, commander of paramilitary troops in Sui, told journalists allowed to make a rare visit on Thursday. Pakistan - which is already exerting itself in a lengthy campaign against Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the tribal areas in the far northwest - has so far taken a good-cop, bad-cop approach to the rebels. The government has held some talks with tribal leaders and has sought to show that it is promoting development in the impoverished province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. But military ruler President Pervez Musharraf warned them shortly after the Sui attacks: "Don't push us". He also made a pointed reference to a Baluch nationalist uprising that was brutally put down in the 1970s. Military officials said Wednesday that they would also set up a new garrison to protect Sui. Officials told AFP on condition of anonymity that up to 800 regular army soldiers and at least 2,000 members of the paramilitary forces have been guarding the area since the attacks. The authorities are now embarking on new ways to safeguard the installation, which produces at least a fifth of Pakistan's natural gas needs. |
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