Saturday, March 19 2005 09:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Quetta (Baluchistan): Fierce gun battles between tribal rebels and Pakistani troops in the troubled south-western province of Baluchistan have left up to 30 people dead and more than 70 injured, an official said yesterday (Mar 18, 2005).

Fighting lasted all day Thursday (Mar 17, 2005) after the heavily armed clansmen, who want more autonomy and increased benefits from the area's natural resources, ambushed a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers, officials said.

Separately, railway officials said a bomb hidden in a toilet tore through a carriage on a passenger train heading towards the provincial capital Quetta, killing one person and injuring five.

The province has been gripped by a sporadic tribal revolt for more than a year but the violence surged after the January rape of a 32 year-old doctor at Pakistan's largest gas field at Sui in Baluchistan.

"According to our assessment, based on reports from security officials in the area, up to 30 people died and more than 70 injured," a home ministry official told agencies on condition of anonymity following the clashes.

It was unclear if the toll included the figure of eight soldiers killed and 23 injured given by officials earlier for the violence at Dera Bugti, southeast of Quetta.

A ceasefire was agreed on Thursday to remove the dead and wounded.

"The casualties were high because the exchange of rockets and mortar shells continued from both sides throughout the day on Thursday," the home ministry official said.

The Government has dismissed the tribesmen's claims that up to 50 people on their side alone were killed as "exaggerated".