At least three Pakistani villagers and an Afghan refugee were killed in a clash with police sent to demolish homes near a refugee camp that authorities want to close, officials and residents said.
The trouble began when "police refused to listen to our pleas and tried to demolish homes of local villagers" near the Pir Alizai camp, said Abdul Shakoor Kokozai, a tribal elder.
He said the ensuing shootout on Wednesday left four people dead, including an Afghan refugee.
"We are Pakistanis. We don't want to be made homeless," he said, adding that five Pakistani villagers and three refugees were hurt when police fired tear gas and swung batons.
There were conflicting reports about the incident.
Local mayor Hamid Ullah Achakzai said that police had been sent only to demolish homes vacated by Afghan refugees, not those of Pakistanis living in the area.
Some refugees had apparently joined local residents in opposing the police action.
Zaman Khan, a senior police officer in the nearby border town of Chaman, said police used tear gas against 300 to 400 camp residents blocking the Quetta-Chaman highway in protest.
About 36,000 people live in Pir Alizai, one of four large camps that the Pakistani government plans to close by September, filled with refugees from Afghanistan's decades of strife.
Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf has said the camps must close because they are used by both Taliban militants and criminal gangs trafficking the opium and heroin produced by Afghanistan's booming drug industry.
Pakistan plans to repatriate all 2 million Afghan refugees who have not yet joined millions of their compatriots in returning home since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
A UN report released earlier this month found that most Afghan refugees still in Pakistan want to stay.
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