ISLAMABAD - Thousands of people were left without power and heating in southern Pakistan after suspected tribal militants blew up two electricity pylons and a gas pipeline, news reports said on Thursday. No one was thought to have been hurt in the attacks Wednesday in the town of Dera Bugti, located 350 kilometres east of Quetta, according to the English-language Daily Times newspaper.The blasts followed operations by government forces against militant training bases in the province of Balochistan, which is the scene of a long-running conflict over autonomy and profits from exploration of natural gas deposits.
The Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for these and other recent bombings of power-supply infrastructure.