ISLAMABAD, 12 January 2006 — Fifteen people were killed in clashes on Wednesday night between Pakistani security forces and Bugti tribesmen in Balochistan. “Twelve tribesmen were killed and three security men lost their lives, Abdul Samad Lasi, the region’s police chief, said yesterday.

The clashes between Bhambore Rifles, a wing of the Frontier Corps, and the tribesmen began after the authorities took over a building located in Sui gas field. The building belonged to the Pakistan Petroleum Limited but was leased out to Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who renamed it “Bugti House”.

The authorities initially detained 11 tribesmen and recovered from them huge quantities of arms and ammunition.

On Wednesday evening, a vehicle of the Frontier Corps was hit by a land mine. Two security men were killed instantly and an undisclosed number of soldiers injured.

Men of Bhambore Rifles later took control of the hills surrounding Dera Bugti. They were fired upon around midnight. The security men retaliated and killed at least 12 Bugti tribesmen. In the heavy exchange of fire, two security men were injured. They later died in a Frontier Corps hospital.

Early yesterday, a powerful explosion ruptured a section of a state-owned gas pipeline, briefly disrupting supplies, but injuring no one, police said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack in Kundkot. An area police chief, Mazhar Shahab, said engineers had started repair work.

He blamed tribal militants for the attack, although he did not offer any evidence.

In recent weeks, Pakistani Army helicopters and ground troops have raided training bases used by tribesmen suspected in attacks against the government in impoverished, sparsely populated Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

The region is home to Pakistan’s biggest natural gas fields, and tribesmen in the area want more royalty payments from the central government for resources extracted from the area. They also oppose government plans to build new military garrisons there.

The government says the new garrisons are needed to bolster security.

In an interview with an Indian newspaper, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti has denied claims by President Pervez Musharraf that his group is being supported by New Delhi.

“President Musharraf is using his favorite weapon — lies,” Bugti told the Hindu newspaper in a satellite-phone interview from his headquarters at Dera Bugti. “His objective is to defame the legitimate demands of the people of Balochistan.”

Musharraf said in a weekend interview with an Indian television channel that there was proof that nuclear rival India was providing support to the tribal insurgency in Balochistan. Indian involvement, he added, included “financial support” and “support in kind.”

The elderly, white-bearded Bugti, however, flatly denied the charge.

“What is the need for us to take anything from anyone,” he asked. “The weapons we are now using flowed into this region when the United States financed the jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan,” he said.

“It was the Inter-Services Intelligence which distributed them to Afghanistan, Iran, Jammu and Kashmir — and to us in Balochistan,” he added, referring to the ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency. The cost of acquiring weapons was minimal because of their easy availability, he added.

Opposition parties in Balochistan accuse the government of using helicopter gunships and warplanes to rocket and bomb civilians. India said last month it had noted these allegations with concern and said it hoped Islamabad would show “restraint.”

— Additional input from agencies