Gas pipeline blown up in Pak's tribal region

The explosion ruptured a 1.5-meter section of the pipeline in Dera Murad Jamali, a tribal town in Balochistan province.

A bomb exploded near a pipeline supplying gas to a power plant in southwestern Pakistan, disrupting supplies but injuring no one, an official said on Tuesday.

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The explosion, which took place late on Monday, ruptured a 1.5-meter (five-foot) section of the pipeline in Dera Murad Jamali, a tribal town in Balochistan province, local government administrator Abdul Samad Lasi said.

No one claimed responsibility for the explosion. Tribal militants have been blamed in the past for bombing the pipeline for the 586-megawatt Uch Power Plant.

The militants have been demanding an increase in royalties for resources extracted in their territories.

In Dera Bugti, another town in the area that is at the center of clashes between security forces and tribal militants, explosions were heard and flames were seen rising from the fortress-like home of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a fugitive tribal chief, Lasi said by telephone from the area.

A rocket may have landed in Bugti's home during clashes between security forces and tribal fighters, Lasi said.

Bugti wasn't thought to be at home as he is wanted by authorities for leading tribesmen in attacks against the government, he said.