Pakistani education minister shot dead

Gunmen on a motorcycle have shot dead the minister of education in the provincial government in Baluchistan, a gas-rich province in southwestern Pakistan where rebels have been waging a low-level insurgency for decades.

A separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack on Shafiq Ahmed Khan in the provincial capital, Quetta.

Meanwhile, Pakistani aircraft attacked Taliban in the South Waziristan region, a day after the army said it had captured a strategic town on an approach to the militants' main base area. The latest bombardment in the week-old offensive was against militant bases in the three villages of Sam, Badr and Ladha. "It was intense bombing and later helicopter gunships attacked," said an unidentified intelligence agency official.

Several militant hideouts had been destroyed in the bombing, said a government official, adding he had no information about casualties. Military spokesman were not available for comment.

South Waziristan, a rugged land of rocky mountains and patchy forest, is a global hub of Islamist militancy. Foreign fighters including Uzbeks and Arab al Qaeda supporters are fighting alongside the Taliban.

Soldiers are advancing on the militants' main stronghold area from three directions.