QUETTA: A youth was killed and 22 others were injured in a suicide blast near the Friendship Gate at the Pak-Afghan border on Monday.

The border with Afghanistan, which was opened a day before, was closed after the attack on Monday.

Earlier, it had to be closed along with the Torkham border crossing because of bomb explosions there.

The suicide attack took place in the parking lot of the border area where people and Nato trucks wait for clearance for their onward journey.

“Legs and body parts of the suicide bomber have been found at the blast site,” Chaman Assistant Com­missio­ner Kashif Nabi said.

He said security personnel were the target. “A pedestrian came close to a vehicle of the security forces and blew himself up,” Mr Nabi said, quoting an eyewitness.

He said that at least 22 people were injured.

“A teenage boy was killed and 22 people were injured in the blast,” District Police Officer Abdul Hayee Baloch told Dawn.

He said that security personnel and rescue workers shifted the injured to the district hospital.

“The injured include five children who have been admitted to Chaman hospital,” officials said.

“We have received 22 injured people with burn and splinter’s wounds, and a teenage boy succumbed to his injuries during treatment,” hospital sources said.

Three of the injured were later shifted to Quetta be­cause of their critical condition.

Sources said a decision on reopening the border would be taken on Tuesday. Security in the area was beefed up after the incident.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2017