February 8, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 9, 1427

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QUETTA, Feb 7: Nawabzada Balaach Mari has said that about 20 children have died because of severe cold and non-availability of medicines in the Mari area.

Talking to newsmen on satellite phone from Kohlu on Tuesday, he accused security forces of bombing civilian areas in Kahan and others parts of Kohlu.

However, he claimed that despite the use of aircraft and helicopters, the security forces had failed to crush the resistance in the Kohlu district.

He said the heavy shelling had forced the civilian population to leave the area.

Nawabzada Balaach said several families were living in the open due to blockade of the area and about 20 children had died in the cold and because of non-availability of medicines.

He condemned what he called false cases registered against Nawab Akbar Bugti and other Baloch leaders, saying that registration of cases or shelling should not force the Baloch people to give up their struggle for national rights.

The Nawabzada urged the Baloch people to support the national struggle to protect their resources and land.

CHIEFTAIN BLAMED: Wadera Rab Nawaz Mari, an elder of the Mari tribe, has blamed that oppressive policies of the chieftain of the tribe for the misery of Kohlu tribesmen.

Speaking at a press conference at the press club on Tuesday, he accused Nawabzada Balaach Mari of running fugitive camps in the mountains of Kohlu and demanded that the government should wipe out the camps.

Rab Nawaz said he belonged to the Ghazani clan of the tribe and had been a follower of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Mari. However, he said that now he realised that the chieftain was misleading the tribesmen.

He accused the sons of Nawab Mari of extorting money from poor tribesmen. Anyone failing to pay the illegal tax was detained in private prisons, he added.

Wadera Rab Nawaz supported development projects and demanded that the government should take tough action against Nawabzada Balaach Mari to ensure peaceful completion of the development programme in Kohlu district.