Pak soldiers locate Bugti's body

Islamabad: Pakistan Army claims to have found killed Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti's body in a cave in southwest Balochistan.

The Pakistan Army, however, says it will take two to three days to take the body out.

Army Engineers have been trying to enter the cave without causing it to collapse further for over four days now.

Agency reports, however, said Pakistani soldiers searching a cave in Kohlu have already found the body, but they are expected to retrieve it only in a day or two as it was pinned under a boulder.

A local daily reported that two soldiers who managed to crawl deep into the collapsed cave spotted Bugti's body lying under a boulder.

Pakistan's Defence Spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, however, said the Army already knew that the body of the Baloch leader was inside and could be retrieved in a day or two.

"We already knew that his (Bugti's) body was buried inside the cave and rescue teams have been working hard to enter deep inside the cave without causing further collapse of the structure," Sultan said.

He, however, declined to comment on a report stating that two soldiers who managed to crawl inside spotted the body. "It is a media report. But we know his body was there," he said.

A team of Army engineers headed by a Brigadier worked at the site near Kohlu in southwest Balochistan province, he said. Five helicopters ferried equipment to excavate the cave which he said collapsed in an explosion when armymen were entering it to negotiate with Bugti.

Meanwhile, the slain tribal chieftain's son has warned that the violence that has gripped southern Pakistan, particularly fiercely independent Baluchistan province, since the death will continue until his father's body is returned.

Bugti's son, Jamil, criticised the government's conflicting statements and demanded the return of his father's body. "We need my father's body. It is very important for us according to Islam and our culture," Jamil Bugti said.

"This violence will continue until we get the body and bury it properly," he said.

"It will take us at least a week to recover the bodies," Brig Mohammed Ambeer said. "We don't know what is inside the cave. There could be some land mines and we can't use heavy machinery because it could set off explosions."

(With agency inputs)