QUETTA, Jan 30: A powerful bomb exploded near the Askari Park, without causing any casualty or damage to property. However, a second blast partially damaged an oil tanker in the Kuchlak suburb of the city.

The bomb disposal squad defused a third bomb planted inside the Askari Park. Capital City Police Officer Pervaiz Bhatti confirmed the incidents, saying that unidentified persons had planted the bomb near the park which exploded at 3am. Another one, weighing 3kg, was planted inside the park which was defused.

About the Kuchlak blast, the police official claimed that a small bomb partially damaged the oil tanker but said it was not a subversive act. He said two private companies had a dispute with each other, and one of them had filed an FIR against the other for the incident.

When asked why blast incidents were on the rise despite tight security measures, he said a key saboteur had been arrested two days ago while 24 suspects had also been taken into custody. "We are investigating the matter from different angles," he said.

About the arrests of suspected Taliban three days ago, Mr Bhatti said that investigators were quizzing six senior Taliban while 11 others had been sent to jail.

The CCPO said that if the detained persons, including Maulana Khushdil, Maulana Ibrahim, Mufti Razzak, Mufti Rehmatullah, Maulana Nabi, and Maulana Agha Muhammad, were found to be having no links with Al Qaeda then they would be handed over to the Afghan government.

He said that 17 Afghans were arrested on charges of entering Pakistan without legal documents. Upon completion of the interrogation process, the detained people would be sent back to Afghanistan. He acknowledged that six activists of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI-F), who had been held during raids to apprehend the Afghans, had been released the next day.