A court sentenced two separatist militants to death on Thursday for carrying out a car bomb attack that killed three people and wounded 15 in Karachi in late 2005, officials said. The condemned men belonged to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a shadowy guerrilla group fighting for a greater share of profits from resources in the province of Balochistan.
"The convicted men are brothers," said Mohammad Tariq, a police investigator, adding that two other accused were still on the run. The men can appeal against their sentence within a week.
The bomb exploded at a building housing several oil and gas exploration firms on November 15, 2005. The BLA later issued a statement saying that it had targeted Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), which runs Pakistan's largest gasfield in Balochistan. Baloch nationalists have been fighting for decades for a larger share of profits from the resources of Pakistan's biggest but poorest province. They have attacked gas, transport and infrastructure installations as well as security forces and government offices.