QUETTA, Feb 12: Nine people, including four journalists, were injured when a bomb attached to a bicycle went off outside the election offices of a former provincial minister and an independent candidate in Khuzdar on Tuesday.

According to police sources, the bicycle was parked in the Azadi Chowk close to the election offices of Sardar Aslam Bizenjo, who is contesting for PB-34, and Advocate Usman, a candidate for NA-269.

Both the candidates were addressing a press conference when the bomb exploded, rocking the town.

Police and other law-enforcement personnel took the injured to the civil hospital.

The sources said that shrapnel from the bomb hit the journalists who were in the election office.

Sardar Bizenjo belongs to the National Party, a component of the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) which is boycotting the election. He is taking part in the election as an independent candidate.

The injured journalists are: Munir Shakir, Ayub Baloch, Munir Noor and Abdul Latif.