Quetta Blast News: At least four people have been killed and several others injured in a powerful blast in Quetta's Kandhari Bazar, Pakistani media reports said. Soon after the explosion, security forces cordoned off the area and rescue services shifted the casualties to nearby medical facilities.
Television images showed damaged vehicles of the local police surrounded by security personnel.
Interestingly, the blast occurred nearly two days after the Shehbaz Sharif-led government announced to launch of a "comprehensive operation" to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in all its forms from the country.
Explosives were planted in a motorcycle
Quoting SSP Operations retired Capt Zohaib Mohsi, Pakistani English daily, Dawn, said the target of the blast was a police vehicle. Mohsi claimed that the explosives were planted in a motorcycle.
Senior police official Shafqat Cheema confirmed the death toll to news agency Reuters and said that the target appeared to be a police vehicle.
So far, none of the terror groups operating in the region have claimed responsibility for the blast.
Bomb explosions in Pakistan surged in the past few months
Notably, the country has been witnessing a surge in deadly attacks against police in the past few months. In January this year, more than 100 were killed after terrorists unleashed an explosion in a crowded mosque inside a highly secured police compound in the city of Peshawar. Among those killed in the blast, at least 59 were security personnel.
Earlier last month, at least nine policemen were killed and 13 others injured in a powerful blast in Balochistan’s Bolan district. According to The Express Tribune, the policemen were returning from the Sibi festival after performing their duties, when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden motorcycle into the police van, damaging it severely.
