Pakistan was put on high alert and curfew imposed in the provincial capital Quetta, a day after 80-year-old Bugti was killed after the Army launched air strikes in the mountains of the province where the rebel chieftain was hiding.

“It is confirmed Nawab Bugti has been killed in an operation,” Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said here. The Baloch leader’s son-in-law, Senator Agha Bugti, also said Bugti was killed in the military operation. Reports said the hideout of Bugti was discovered through a satellite phone tracking system.

Besides the British-educated tribal leader, 38 armed rebels, including Bugti’s two grandsons, were killed in the fighting. Twenty one security personnel also lost their lives, media reports quoted Defence officials as saying.

As news of Bugti’s death spread, parts of Balochistan, including Quetta, experienced heavy violence and rioting. Angry mobs ransacked and torched banks, petrol pumps and government offices and vehicles. People also fired on police, said Quetta’s top police official Syed Muhammad.

Sporadic gunshots were heard in Quetta and other areas through the night and police said one person was killed and six policemen and five protesters were wounded after they exchanged gunfire.

Pakistan Army, in a statement today, said it was “presumed” that Bugti and his associates were in the cave which was destroyed in a missile attack by the military. “Given the resistance met, it is presumed that Akbar Bugti and a number of terrorists were occupying this cave,” it said.

The Army said the cave came to the notice of the “law enforcement agencies (LEAs)” on August 23 when two Army helicopters flying over Tartani in Kohlu district of Balochistan came under fire from the ground by “Ferraris”, the term used by Pakistan government to describe Baloch rebels.

“As a result of which one helicopter suffered damage. Following this incident, LEAs dispatched another helicopter to search the area; this helicopter also received intense fire from the ground, was hit but managed to return safely to the base,” it said.

“Sequel to this incident, LEAs conducted a search operation against suspected ‘Ferrari’ camps in the area on August 24 and 25. During this search, the LEAs received intense fire of rockets, machine guns and mortars from widespread locations as a result of which two LEAs personnel were killed and three injured,” the Army said. Further reinforcement was sent on August 26, the Army said, adding that “during their search, the LEAs discovered a large number of caves from where intense fire was emanating.”

While LEAs were engaged in one of the caves, very heavy fire was exchanged because of which the cave collapsed, burying all those inside. Given the resistance met, it is presumed that Akbar Bugti and a number of terrorists were occupying this cave.”

The Army, the statement said, lost four officers and one soldier in yesterday’s fighting, taking its casualties to seven during the past few days. However, Defence officials were quoted as saying that 21 of their personnel, including a Colonel, two Majors and three Captains were killed.

Pakistan government declared red alert in the rest of the country, especially Karachi and Lahore, anticipating heavy public protest over the killing of Bugti, who along with a large band of tribesmen waged an armed revolt against Pakistan demanding more autonomy and removal of military cantonments from the sparsely populated province, the country’s biggest but poorest despite being rich in gas and other natural resources.

Main Opposition parties’ leaders including former premier Nawaz Sharif of PML-N, PPP’s Makhdoom Amin Fahim and MMA’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed expressed shock over Bugti’s killing. Former Prime Minister and senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) Zafarullah Khan Jamali said Bugti’s killing could have “negative consequences” for the country. Himself a tribal leader from Balochistan and handpicked by President Musharraf to be Prime Minister after the polls in 2002 but later replaced by Shaukat Aziz in 2004, Jamali told Geo TV that Bugti was a “respectable figure” in Balochistan. “Its repercussions could be negative,” he said.

Senior PPP leaders Amin Fahim and Raja Rabbani said the killing of Bugti was condemnable. They warned against emergence of a 1971-like situation which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, said PPP spokesman Faratullah Babar.

-K J M VARMA