At least two people were killed and 16 others injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on Quetta's Eastern Bypass area on Tuesday evening, police said.

Quetta DIG Abdul Razzaq Cheema confirmed the incident and said that unknown miscreants had planted the explosive device in a motorcycle and parked it outside a medical store.

The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital Quetta and an emergency was declared in the hospital.

Razzaq Cheema said that two victims of the blast succumbed to their injuries on their way to the hospital. He added that all the injured were civilians.

He said that the culprits and motive behind the attack were yet to be ascertained. Police and other law enforcement agencies personnel reached the sport and an investigation was underway.

A total of 119 people — including 15 police personnel — were killed and 114 injured in terrorism-related incidents in Balochistan during 2018. As many as 25 terrorists were killed in encounters and 55 arrested in 1,245 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in the province.