QUETTA: Two people were injured when a bomb went off near a fire brigade station at the Bacha Khan Chowk on Wednesday night.

“It was an improvised explosive device planted close to the fire brigade station and detonated with the help of a time device,” said SSP Abdul Waheed Khattak.

The area where the explosion occurred is the route for the procession of Shuhdah-i-Karbala Chehlum to be taken out on Thursday. Two people suffered minor injuries in the incident. A car and a bicycle were damaged and windowpanes of nearby buildings and shops were smashed.

A bomb disposal squad official said that around 5kg of explosive material had been used in the blast.

Security measures were tightened in and around Quetta after the explosion with heavy contingents of Frontier Corps, police and Balochistan Constabulary deployed at the procession route.

Home Minister Mir Sarfarz Ahmed Bugti said that designs of terrorists would be foiled and the government had made all security arrangements for the Chehlum procession. “We are not afraid of terrorists,” he said.

He said that police and other law-enforcement agencies were performing their duties with devotion.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2015