Pak forces kill five in raid on rebel base

The six-hour operation was carried out Tuesday in the Daaman and Tobo areas near the country's main gas installation in the troubled Dera Bugti district, they said.

Tribesmen loyal to separatist chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti have been involved in an insurgency for the last two years over demands for more autonomy and larger royalties from gas extracted from their land.

Bugti's Jamhuri Watan Party said the tribesmen shot down two helicopters and 14 civilians including women and children were killed by military jets, but officials denied the claims.

An official statement issued overnight said the operation was launched following intelligence that insurgents belonging to the outlawed Baluchistan Liberation Army were planing to destroy Loti gas field in the region.

"In the action five miscreants were killed and seven of them were arrested," the statement said.

It said the militants were using the base to direct sabotage including rocket attacks, laying land mines and blowing up gas and water pipelines and electricity pylons in the area.

The paramilitary forces also seized a cache of arms and ammunition dumped in the neighbouring Pir Koh area.

Mineral-rich but spersely populated Baluchistan is in the grip of a tribal insurgency, with near-daily attacks on security forces and government installations.