MASTUNG: At least two soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit a paramilitary van escorting a bus of Shia Muslim pilgrims in the Mastung district of Balochistan on Saturday, officials said.

The incident took place in Dringhar area, on the main Quetta-Taftan Highway in Mastung district, some 50 kilometres southwest of Quetta.

“The bomb exploded after a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle stopped to check a parked car,” Sayed Mehrab Shah, a senior government official in Mastung told AFP.

All the pilgrims on the bus, who were on their way to Iran, were safe but several security personnel were wounded by the remotely triggered bomb, Shah said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but most attacks in the oil-and gas-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran have been linked to a decade-long Baloch separatist insurgency or sectarian violence.

Abdul Wasay, spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps, confirmed the attack.

Meanwhile, a heavy contingent of security personnel cordoned off the site of incident and investigations into the attack went underway.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.