Bombs, riots rock Pakistan after killing of tribal chief

Troubled southwest Pakistan witnessed its worst violence on Tuesday since last weekendีs killing of a popular tribal chief as mobs set buildings ablaze and four people died in a large bomb blast.

The explosion at a hotel in Hub, an industrial town some 600 kilometres south of the Baluchistan provincial capital of Quetta, injured six others, police official Ghulam Ali Lashari said.

Hub has seen a string of bomb blasts this year and the area has been on edge since last Saturday when tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in a military strike that sparked widespread rioting in the Baluchistan region.

On Tuesday, a crowd firing weapons into the air rampaged through the streets of Quetta following funeral prayers for Bugti.

The mob torched a local bank and set a district government building alight, setting off plumes of thick black smoke. Four makeshift bombs exploded in shops near the venue of the prayers.

Police fired tear gas as well as rounds in the air to try to bring the situation under control, police official Abdul Khan said. Paramilitary troops were brought in to quell the violence.

A policeman and eight protesters were injured in the gunfire and rushed to hospital, a police officer said, adding that around 100 people were detained during the dayีs rioting.

The mobs set ablaze some two dozen shops belonging to settlers in Quetta city and blocked roads by burning old tyres, residents said.

It was the third consecutive day of unrest in the area, which has led to more than 500 people being arrested and two killed. Baluch nationalists also called a general strike in protest.