QUETTA Six people were killed and eight others injured in a gunbattle between two groups of Jatak tribe in the Mula area of Khuzdar district on Tuesday.

Police said the clash was caused by a dispute over the ownership of a hill.

The firing started in the morning and both sides used rockets, machine-guns and other weapons.

`Five people from both sides were killed on the spot and another died in the hospital,` DPO Ghulam Mohammad Lashari told Dawn.

`The condition of four of the injured is serious and we are trying to save their lives,` a doctor said.

Police and anti-terrorist force personnel reached the area and persuaded the combatants to stop firing and vacate their trenches.

`The situation is now under control,` Mr Lashari said, adding that security personnel had been deployed to avert further clashes.

Police have registered a case and convened a meeting of tribal elders to resolve the dispute.