Nine die in Pakistan tribal-military clash

About 500 rockets were fired in the violence that continued late on Saturday in Dera Bugti, a restive tribal town.

Tribal militia and Pakistani security forces exchanged rocket and artillery fire in southwestern Pakistan, an official said on Sunday, leaving nine civilians dead and four soldiers wounded.

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About 500 rockets were fired in the violence that continued late on Saturday in Dera Bugti, a restive tribal town southeast of the provincial capital of Quetta, local government administrator Abdul Samad Lasi said. Rebels attacked an army base, a telephone exchange and government offices, Lasi added.

The tribesmen are blamed for carrying out the attacks to press demands for resources extracted in the sparsely populated region and resist government plans to build new military garrisons.