Pakistan: 2 police officers, 5 civilians injured in bomb blast in Quetta

Karachi: A remote-controlled bomb went off in the Pakistani city of Quetta, capital of the province of Balochistan, wounding seven people, including two police officials, a senior police officer said on Saturday.

The blast targeted a police van close to a high security area in Nawa Killi.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Asad Nasir told the media that the bomb weighing around 4-5 kilogrammes was fitted on a motorcycle parked on the road.

"The target was a police eagles squad van and when it passed by, the bomb was detonated by remote control,” he said.

Among the seven people injured in the blast, two are police officials, while the rest are civilians, the officer said.

Security forces and rescue officials rushed to the area following the explosion. The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta and the area has been cordoned off, police said.

Balochistan has been witnessing a spate of low-level violence for years. The local Baloch nationalists, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Taliban militants mostly claim responsibility for such attacks.

In 2019, the United States designated the BLA, which is fighting the Pakistani rule in Balochistan province, as a terrorist organisation.

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