Armed Baluch tribesmen in the autonomous region of Kohlu, southeast of Baluchistan province. (Reuters)

Karachi, Jan. 12 (Reuters): Kidnappers snatched 10 employees of Pakistan?s main water and power utility near a key gas-producing region where up to 18 people have been killed in tribal violence since last week, officials said today.

The employees of the Water and Power Development Authority were abducted late yesterday in Rajanpur, an area of central Pakistan on the border between Sindh and Baluchistan provinces, chairman Tariq Hameed said.

The employees were abducted by two armed men while heading to survey an area for construction of an irrigation canal, said company spokeswoman Mobashrah Bajwa.

The abductions took place about 40 km northeast of Sui, scene of several clashes since last Friday between security forces and Baluch tribesmen seeking greater autonomy in which as many as 18 people have died.

Sui, about 400 km north of Karachi, produces about 28 million cubic metres of gas per day, or about 45 per cent of Pakistan?s total production. Supplies to industry have been disrupted by the clashes.

The recent surge in violence prompted President Pervez Musharraf to warn tribesmen in a television interview aired late yesterday to stop fighting or ?they will not know what hit them?.

Gunmen from the Marri tribe stormed facilities operated by state-run Pakistan Petroleum Ltd in Sui yesterday, overpowering guards and damaging pipelines and a purification plant before they were driven off.

Military spokesperson Major General Shaukat Sultan said three paramilitary soldiers were killed and five wounded along with two civilians, including a child. As many as 10 tribesmen died. Officials said the plant?s compressor and several pipelines had caught fire in the fighting.

The tribesmen, long fighting for more jobs, development funds and royalty payments from the gas fields, launched their offensive last Friday.