Pakistani police arrest 57 suspected rebels

PAKISTAN: Pakistani Police arrested nearly 60 tribesmen suspected of involvement in attacks on security forces and government installations in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, police said.

Police detained some 57 suspects including 24 arrested in a raid on a camp run by rebels from the Marri tribe near the provincial capital Quetta, city police officer Mujibur Rehman said.

The 33 other men were picked up during raids at different neighbourhoods just outside Quetta, Rehman said.

Sparsely-populated Baluchistan province has been in the grip of a sporadic insurgency blamed on tribal groups pressing for greater autonomy and a share in the income from the region's vast natural resources.

On Friday two people were killed when their motorbike struck a landmine, which authorities said was planted by insurgents near the town of Sui, 280 kilometers (175 kilometers) southeast of Quetta.

ISLAMABAD, Sunday AFP