'It's better to die -- as the Americans say -- with your spurs on instead of a slow death in bed,' says Baloch tribal chief Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who is spearheading an armed uprising against Pakistan and vows to make life difficult for President Pervez Musharraf [Images].

Hiding in the caves of Pakistan's Balochistan province, the 80-year old Bugti conspires with Baloch tribesmen on ways to ambush the Pakistan Army [Images]. 'Physical hardship-pain, the extreme heat -- this is all a state of mind. You either give into it or not. And I choose not to,' he was quoted as saying by the Time magazine in its latest issue.

A satellite phone was used to reach Bugti in his mountain hideout. Claiming to have killed his first man when he was only 12, Bugti, partially paralysed in one leg, says he uses 'a rock for my pillow'.

Unlike his fellow tribesmen, Bugti is a vegetarian and an avid reader having built a library with books on European classics, philosophy as well as Western and oriental religions.

Balochistan has witnessed an escalation in violence with the army using US surveillance aircraft and gun-ships for targeting Baloch rebels.

As part of their offensive, the Baloch ultras have resorted to blasting gas pipelines, disrupting transport networks and attacking soldiers.

Bugti, a former federal cabinet minister who later spent years in jail for open rebellion, has been a votary of autonomy. "We Baloch believe that the best way to die is to die fighting."

Bugti and other Baloch tribal chieftains are also angry with what they see as moves by Islamabad [Images] to erode their independence and marginalise them.

They see the building of a state-of-the-art port at Gwadar off Balochistan's southern coast as an invitation to settlers from other provinces.

On fears that American aircraft and weaponry were being used to wipe out Baloch insurgents, but an unnamed US State Department official was quoted by the magazine as saying 'we have seen no evidence that our equipment has been used to violate human rights'.

Another American official contended that that there was nothing in the agreement with Pakistan to prevent Musharraf from using US military aid against Baloch insurgents.