A special anti-terrorism court on Tuesday sentenced five activists to death for killing six people in an attack last year. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a group had claimed responsibility for attack at the time.

Those killed included five soldiers travelling in a vehicle which was attacked near Khuzdar in August 2004. The judge announced the verdicts in the presence of two convicts as three others are still on the run. A sixth accused was acquitted for lack of evidence.

"These (five) have been found guilty of committing the crime," said Abdul Ghayyas Nousherwani, judge of a special anti-terrorism court in Quetta.

Copyright Reuters, 2005