Pakistan troops guard main gas facility

The main plant at the state-run Sui gas facility in the southwestern province of Baluchistan - which, according to BBC, provides about 60 percent of Pakistan's gas - is shut.

"The plant has been closed as a precautionary measure because if, God forbid, the plant was hit it would result in horrible tragedy," Rashid Lone, managing director of the northern pipeline network, said.

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In what seems to be a related incident, kidnappers abducted 10 employees of Pakistan's main water and power utility near the impoverished, gas-producing region of Baluchistan, reports Reuters.

The employees of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) were taken hostage late Tuesday 25 miles northeast of Sui, scene of several clashes since last Friday between security forces and Baluch tribesmen, according to Reuters.

Gunmen also stormed facilities operated by state-run Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) in Sui on Tuesday, overpowering guards and damaging pipelines and a purification plant before being driven off by security forces.

Reuters reports that as many as 10 tribesmen died and cites military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan as saying three paramilitary soldiers were killed and five wounded along with two civilians.

Last Friday, the tribesmen launched rocket attacks that forced many residents and PPL workers to flee. The BBC reports that Friday's clashes began after "claims a female doctor had been gang-raped."

The woman is said to be in her thirties and employed by state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited. It is not clear who might have carried out the alleged rape, but tribesmen blame security forces.

The victim has declined to lodge a criminal complaint, however, The Australian reports. The daily also cites an interior ministry official as saying the alleged incident was being exploited by renegade tribes.

Reuters reports that the attacks have happened frequently in the past, but that recent attacks "have been notable for their intensity."

The recent attacks prompted President Pervez Musharraf to warn tribesmen in an interview with the privately owned Pakistani TV channel Geo that aired late on Tuesday to stop fighting. "Don't push us... it is not the 1970s, and this time you won't even know what has hit you."

There have been a series of bomb explosions in the provincial capital, Quetta, and other parts of Baluchistan in the past year, the BBC points out, noting that the area is one of Pakistan's poorest.

"Disgruntled tribesmen seeking a larger share of oil and gas wealth are blamed for the attacks," writes BBC.

Reuters cites similar motivation for the attacks.

"Analysts said the unrest reflected on Pakistan's efforts to win foreign investment for its energy sector and its guarantees of security for a proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India that would have to run through Baluchistan."

The Australian reports that Baluchistan province has "become a new focus for discontent since the government announced plans to build three new military bases there."

An opinion piece by Najam Sethi, an editor of the Lahore-based Friday Times, was published last August in the South Asia Tribune. He warns that "there is need to tread very carefully in Baluchistan."

The national interest demands that patience, negotiation, and compromise should be the hallmark of federal policy rather than knee-jerk army operations and detentions. At the same time, the federal government should make serious efforts to clinch the new development conditions of resource sharing with local tribes and regions.

The future of the oil and gas pipelines that are being planned across the mountains and deserts and coasts of Baluchistan for the prosperity and stability of Pakistan hinges on a sensible and inclusionary approach to Balochistan.

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• Feedback appreciated. E-mail Matthew Clark.