Troops patrol streets in southwest Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan — Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets Sunday to deter any violence as the Pakistani city of Quetta came to a standstill for a strike in protest at the slaying of three local leaders.
An AFP correspondent said business activity came to a halt and public and private transport remained off the road in the southwest city in response to the strike call by the Baluchistan National Party (BNP).
Riots broke out Thursday in Baluchistan province after the bodies of three dissident Baluch politicians were dumped on the outskirts of Turbat, a town near the Iranian border.
Paramilitary Frontier Corps troops patrolled major roads in Quetta, capital of the oil- and gas-rich province.
"Our troops are on high alert, patrolling the main boulevards to prevent incidents of violence," senior police official Rasool Bakhsh Rind told AFP.
Gunmen shot dead eight people Saturday in separate incidents in Quetta and other southwestern towns amid protests over the killings.
The slain politicians were identified as BNP chief Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, his deputy Lala Munir Baloch, and Sher Mohammad, deputy secretary general of the Baluchistan Republican Party.
The late BNP chief had played an important role in securing the release of American UN official John Solecki a week ago, two months after he was abducted in Quetta, a party official said.
Rind, the police official, said a mob Sunday torched two vehicles and two tractors at a local government facility, while another group tried to set fire to a bank.
Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is rife with militant and sectarian violence.
Hundreds of people have died in the region since late 2004 when rebels rose up to demand political autonomy and a bigger share of profits from its natural resources.
The province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has also suffered attacks blamed on Taliban militants.