Two Pakistani security men killed guarding Qatari hunting trip

QUETTA: Two Pakistan paramilitary soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on Wednesday as they guarded members of the Qatari royal family on a bird hunting expedition, officials said.

Hunting enthusiasts among the Gulf elite travel to Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province every winter to catch the rare and reclusive houbara bustard using falcons.

A convoy containing members of the Qatari royals was travelling outside the province’s city of Turbat — 110 kilometres (70 miles) from the Iranian border — when it was hit by a blast, two officials said.

“The visitors remained safe in the attack,” said senior local administration official Abdul Hameed.

“Two paramilitary soldiers of the Frontier Corps were killed in the explosion,” he told AFP, adding that four more members were wounded.

A second local administration official also confirmed the details of the attack on condition of anonymity and said the royals had been provided with “extra security” after the blast.

Neither official said which members of the Qatari royal family — which numbers in the thousands — were in the hunting party.

It was also unclear whether the Qataris were specifically targeted. However Balochistan is home to a host of separatist militant groups which regularly target security forces.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Animal rights groups have long criticised Pakistan for allowing wealthy Arabs to hunt houbara birds that migrate by the thousands from Central Asia every winter.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the houbara as a vulnerable species.

In the Arab world, the bird’s meat is said to be an aphrodisiac and Pakistan’s willingness to issue hunting licences is often referred to as a form of “soft diplomacy” targeting wealthy Gulf nations.