The separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the blast.
Quetta, Pakistan:
At least four people were killed and 15 others injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan on Monday. The officers provided this information.
The bomb targeted a police vehicle in a busy market in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, which is home to separatist insurgency and several Islamist armed groups.
“Preliminary investigations suggest the blast was caused by an IED (improvised explosive device), which was mounted on a motorcycle and detonated using a remote control,” police officer Azfar Mehsar told AFP.
“At least four people were killed in the incident – including two policemen and two civilians,” he added.
The separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.
Confirming the death toll, Waseem Baig, a spokesman for the Sandman provincial hospital in Quetta, said a five-year-old girl was among the dead.
The BLA made no mention of civilian deaths in its claim, saying only that two police officers were killed for their involvement in “inhumane treatment of Baloch civilians under the pretext of investigation”.
Pakistan has been battling an insurgency in Balochistan for years by militants seeking a greater share of the province’s wealth, as well as attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistani Taliban.
Tensions have risen in the province over a flood of Chinese investment under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which locals say has brought them no benefits.
China is investing in the region under a $54 billion project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, an infrastructure, power and transport link between its far-western Xinjiang region and Pakistan’s Gwadar port. upgrade.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)