Tribal refugees return home on gov't-sponsored programme

(26 Mar 2006)
1. Convoy driving into town
2. Security standing by side of road
3. Various of convoy approaching
4. Various of refugees returning to hometown
5. Women and children walking around
6. SOUNDBITE (English): Colonel Furqan Uddin, in charge of mission:
"During the fanning out we encountered some of the miscreants who fired rockets and rocket launchers on our troops, along with small arms. One of my soldiers (inaudible), and the rest all are fine. But the miscreants, reportedly two dead and two injured. And we have arrested a few. We are still carrying out search operation in that area."
7. Colonel talking to journalists
STORYLINE
Suspected rebel tribesmen attacked a mountaintop military post on Sunday on a route in southwestern Pakistan being used by refugees returning home, triggering a gun-battle that left two attackers and a soldier dead, officials said.
Another attacker was killed in a land mine explosion as he tried to escape on a motorcycle after the shootout near Sui, a tribal town southeast of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, according to a local government official.
After the roadside post was attacked more than a thousand tribal people travelled past on their way to Dera Bugti, another town near Sui, the official said.
Two soldiers were reported injured in the gun fight.
Colonel Furqan Uddin said several people had been arrested and search operations were continuing.
The former refugees were returning to their homeland in a government-sponsored programme aimed at restoring their lives in the ancestral region they left more than a decade ago because of tribal feuding.
Hundreds of heavily armed troops accompanied by helicopter gunships guarded the 1,500 people on the journey from Kashmor, a town in the neighbouring province of Sindh.
The returnees reached the centre of Dera Bugti Sunday afternoon where about 300 town residents lined a street to welcome them, many cheering and clapping their hands.
A local official said the former refugees will go to their homes which have been repaired with assistance from the government.
Dera Bugti has been at the centre of tensions between rebel tribesmen and security forces trying to secure the country's key gas installations.

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