QUETTA: One person was killed and 20 were injured in an explosion targeting a vehicle carrying anti-terrorist court judge Nazeer Ahmed Langove in Quetta on Tuesday.

Judge Langove remained unhurt in the blast that took place on Quetta's Double Road, senior police official Imran Qureshi told Dawn, adding that two gunmen guarding the judge were among those injured.

The target of the attack was the judge's vehicle, Qureshi said.

The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital Quetta for medical treatment.

Emergency was also imposed in the hospital. The blast also smashed the glasses of nearby homes and shops in the area. Police reached the spot and started an investigation into the incident.

A number of cars were destroyed in the blast and shops were also damaged in the area.

Balochistan Bar Association condemned the attack and gave the call for a strike in the province today.

Chief Minister Balochistan Abdul Malik Baloch also condemned the attack on the judge.

Quetta is the capital of resource-rich Balochistan province which is home to a long-running separatist conflict that was revived in 2004, with nationalists seeking to stop what they see as the exploitation of the region's natural resources and alleged rights abuses.

In the past few years, the provincial capital has also been a flashpoint for sectarian violence mainly targeting the ethnic Hazara community.

Today's explosion comes as the army is engaged in operations in the northwestern tribal regions of Khyber and North Waziristan and as concerns grow over the increasing footprints of the Islamic State (IS) group in the country.