KHUZDAR/GWADAR: One person was killed and 10 others, including a woman, were injured in grenade and bomb attacks in Khuzdar and Noshki areas over the past 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.

In one incident at Khuzdar’s Azadi Chowk, the police said unknown motorcyclists targeted a stall selling Pakistani flags and other decoration items ahead of Independence Day on Aug 14.

The attackers hurled a grenade at the stall which exploded and injured five people, including a woman passing by. Police and Frontier Corps rushed to the site and shifted the injured to a district hospital. “One man who received multiple injuries succumbed to his wounds in the hospital,” SSP Khuzdar Javed Gharsheen told Dawn, adding that other victims also received splinter wounds.

The assailants fled the scene after hurling the grenade and a search operation was launched to trace them, he said.

The man killed in the grenade attack was identified as Muhammad Yousaf, an employee of Wapda, whereas the injured included Inayatullah, Amar Lal, Palal and Bibi Asia who belong to Jaffarabad.

It was the second attack on flag stalls in Balochistan this month. Last week, a man was killed and 14 others, including two children, were injured in a grenade attack targeting roadside stalls selling national flags in Quetta. The attack took place at Joint Road Square near Raisani Road.

The police said unknown motorcyclists hurled the grenade at the stalls selling national flags and other related items.

Meanwhile, six people were injured and nearby shops and vehicles were damaged in a bomb blast at the Anam-Bostan road in Noshki on Tuesday night.

The police said an improvised explosive device planted in a vehicle was used in the attack and it was probably detonated using a remote control.

Three of the six victims were identified as Satish Kumar, Saddam and Jamaldini.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2022