Suspected rebels blow up gas pipeline in Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan - Suspected rebels have blown up a gas pipeline in southwest Pakistan and fired a rocket that hit a hotel and a residential compound for army medical staff in the city of Quetta, police said.

One person was wounded in the rocket attack in the suburbs of Baluchistan's provincial capital, on Sunday local time, while the pipeline attack disrupted gas supplies in the east of the province.

"The rocket hit a hotel and a residential compound but fortunately just one person was wounded," senior police officer Ghulam Mehmud Dogar said.

Militant groups and tribal rebels are fighting for greater autonomy and more control over mineral resources in Baluchistan.

A poor, sparsely populated, arid land bordering Afghanistan and Iran, Baluchistan's gas fields provide supplies for much of the country. It is also rich in uranium and copper.

Militants frequently attack government buildings, military installations, road and rail links and power lines, as well as gas pipelines.

The pipeline attack took place at Dera Bugti, the stronghold of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a rebellious chieftain who has gone into hiding since fighting escalated following a rocket attack on a town during a visit by President Pervez Musharraf in December.

The army's tough response has raised fears that Baluchs will become more alienated from the Pakistani state, but Musharraf is trying to draw them back with plans for major infrastructure projects in their province.

- REUTERS