Authorities in the Pakistani city of Quetta imposed an indefinite curfew and called in troops yesterday as violent protests over the killing of a Baluch nationalist rebel leader spread. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, 79, was killed in fighting with security forces on Saturday in what appeared to be one of the biggest battles in years in gas-rich Baluchistan province, where nationalists have been demanding a bigger share of resources.

Politicians and analysts said the death of Bugti, a former respected chief minister of Baluchistan, was likely to inflame opposition to the government in Pakistan?s biggest but poorest province. ?He was a tall figure in politics and this won?t have a good affect,? former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali of the ruling Pakistani Muslim League.

As news of Bugti?s death spread late on Saturday, protesters took to the streets of Quetta, the provincial capital. More than a dozen vehicles were burned and at least three banks and a petrol station were torched, residents said. Violence erupted in different parts of Baluchistan yesterday with protesters attacking a paramilitary post, government offices, shops and banks, police said. A gun fight erupted in one place but there were no reports of casualties. About 200 people, most students, were arrested in Quetta, police said.

Security was stepped up in other cities. Baluch rebels have been blamed for bomb attacks in Punjab province. Baluchistan, the most thinly populated of Pakistan?s four provinces, has the country?s main natural gas reserves as well as deposits of copper and uranium. An alliance of political groups in Baluchistan called for a province-wide transport and business strike today.