QUETTA, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships targeted hideouts of tribal militants accused of blowing up gas pipelines and attacking officials in troubled southwestern Pakistan, killing 25 suspects, a senior Cabinet minister said.The security forces also seized a cache of weapons, including rockets, land mines and other munitions during the two-day operation near Sui, a town about 350 kilometers (210 miles) east of Quetta, Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Sherpao termed the operation “an important success,” but gave no further details.
Abdul Razak Bugti, the spokesman for the Baluchistan government said the slain tribesmen were supporters of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a tribal elder who is allegedly leading the insurgency in various parts of the province. “The 25 people who were killed in the operation were the supporter of Nawab Akbar Bugti. We targeted them with 100 percent accuracy,” he told reporters in Quetta.
He said the security forces suffered no losses in the operation which began Tuesday and ended Wednesday near Sui, where PakistanÂ’s main gas fields are located and where tribesmen have waged a campaign to press the government to increase royalties for resources such as natural gas extracted from the region.