Islamabad - A gas pipeline was blown up by suspected militants with a powerful explosive in Pakistan's restive southwestern Sui area Sunday, disrupting gas supply to a nearby town, a senior local government officer said.

He blamed the private militia of a rebellious tribal chief, Nawab Akbar Bugti, for the attack occurred near Loti gas field in Sui, some 500 kilometres east of Balochistan's capital Quetta.

'They (militants) were Nawab (Bugti's) men who also fired rockets on one of the gas wells there and damaged it,' Abdul Samad Lasi, district coordination officer, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said the explosive, fixed under the pipeline, damaged an 18-feet-long piece that resulted in the suspension of gas supply to about 15,000 population of Loti village.

Sparsely populated, mineral-rich Balochistan has been site of sporadic violent attacks on government and military installations allegedly by nationalists who have been fighting for provincial autonomy and bigger royalty from gas explorations in their areas.

Baloch nationalists accuse the federal government of exploiting resources in their province without passing on the benefits to locals.

More than 100 people were reportedly killed in a fresh sweep that followed the unveiling of plans by the federal government in December for the exploration of oil and gas reserves in Kohlu