Armed clashes between two groups kill 11 in Balochistan

At least 11 people, including a top militant commander, were killed in a gun-battle between two rival groups in Pakistan's restive south-western province of Balochistan.
A local police official said that some unidentified armed men attacked Yaqoob Balgatheri, a militant commander in the Bil Gitar area of Hoshap, and his supporters last night, killing 11 of them including Yaqoob in the remote Kech district.
Both the sides exchanged heavy gunfire in the clash after which the assailants decamped with the weapons and set the vehicles of Yaqoob's group on fire.
Banned outfit Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) claimed the responsibility for the attack.

"The killed people were informers of the government and also involved in drug trafficking and kidnappings for ransom," BLF said in a statement.
The dead bodies were buried without autopsies. The relatives of the killed men vowed to take revenge, police said.
Kech district of Balochistan province is the hub of BLF which is fighting for independence. The group, however, has been weakened since the new Balochistan government assumed office after elections last year.
It is believed that the those killed had separated from the group after renouncing violence.