QUETTA: At least seven people, including a child, were injured on Saturday in a powerful blast on the Spini road in Balochistan’s capital Quetta, police said.

Police said militants had planted an improvised explosive device in a vehicle loaded with fruits which was parked on the roadside.

Police said the vehicle of Pashtoonabad’s deputy superintendent of police appeared to be the target and the blast took place as it approached the area.

After the explosion, rescue teams rushed to the spot with a traffic jam witnessed on Spini road.

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.