QUETTA: Three people were killed and over a dozen others injured in a bomb blast in the Hazarganji area on the outskirts of the provincial capital on Sunday.

The blast occurred when the leaders of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) were addressing their third anti-government public meeting at Ayub Stadium, some 20km from the explosion site.

A spokesman for the provincial government had warned the PDM leadership about the security threats issued by the National Counter Terrorism Authority and appealed to the opposition leaders to postpone the rally.

Police said that an improvised explosive device (IED) was planted in a motorcycle parked in front of a shop in the Hazarganji area. When the IED was detonated with remote control three people lost their lives and 16 others suffered injuries.

No group claimed responsibility for the occurrence

Soon after the blast, police rushed to the site and took the dead and the injured to Civil and other nearby hospitals. “We received three bodies and one injured,” Civil hospital’s spokesman said.

A car and several motorcycles caught fire after the blast. A nearby shop was also damaged. “Miscreants used the IED which was hidden under a motorcycle,” a senior police officer said, adding that investigation was under way. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb blast.

“Three dead bodies and six injured have been taken to hospital,” Munir Ahmad, a Quetta police official, told AFP.

An intelligence official in Quetta confirmed details of the blast.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2020