QUETTA, Pakistan - Gunmen ambushed a passenger train in southwestern
Pakistan on Sunday, killing three people and wounding 16 others,
officials said.
Men armed with assault rifles attacked the
passenger train in Mach town, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast
of Quetta, the capital of the insurgency-hit southwestern province of
Baluchistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
"Three people
have been killed and 16 were injured in the attack," Naseeb-Ullah,
provincial home secretary told AFP by telephone.
"We have imposed an emergency in the hospitals while the seriously injured have been taken to Quetta's main hospital," he added.
Police said about two dozens attackers fired on the train when it reached Mach, which lies deep in the mountains.
A railway official confirmed the incident.
One
Intelligence official in Quetta blamed the attack on Baluch militants
who are fighting for more political rights and a greater share of
profits from the region's natural resources.
Hundreds of people
have died in violence in the province since the insurgency flared in
late 2004. Despite having some of the lowest living standards in
Pakistan, the region has the richest supply of natural resources. AP
