Pakistan plans to set up a permanent military base and displace thousands of people to secure its main gas field, which had to be shut down this month after an attack by tribal separatists, officials said on Friday. Thousands of additional troops have been deployed at the Sui gas field in Balochistan since tribesmen attacked the plant with rockets on January 11. Up to 15 people died in the attack and gas supplies had to be shut down for more than a week.
"We have acquired 400 acres of land in Sui to set up a cantonment to ensure foolproof security for the field, which is one of the most vital national installations," said a military spokesman, who asked not to be identified.
A senior provincial government official, who also asked not to be named, said houses around the gas field would have to be demolished to protect the gas facility. "But we will not rush. We will provide the people with alternative places," he said, adding that details of the plan were being worked out.
He did not say how many houses would need to be demolished, but said nearly 25,000 people lived around the gas field in mud and brick houses, some of which the military says were used by the tribesmen to launch the attack.
Both plans are likely to be bitterly opposed by Baloch nationalists and tribesmen seeking greater political and economic rights in a province rich in minerals yet one of the most backward in Pakistan.
Nawab Akbar Bugti, whose tribesmen are being blamed for the attacks on the gas field, said the government's harsh measures were increasing resentment. "Resentment is increasing by leaps and bounds," he said by telephone from his home in the town of Dera Bugti.
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