QUETTA: A powerful magnetic bomb attached to a vehicle killed two of its occupants and injured seven passers-by in Khuzdar town on Tuesday.

The deceased included a young son of Dawn’s Khuzdar correspondent Abdul Wahid Shahwani. The other person killed was businessman Haji Amanullah, whose vehicle was targeted.

The police said the remote-controlled improvised bomb exploded when the vehicle was near the Agha Sultan Ibrahim Chowk in the Do Talwar area. The powerful blast shattered the window-panes of several nearby shops and buildings.

Khuzdar Deputy Commissioner Ilyas Kibzai confirmed that the businessman and Mr Shahwani’s son — 22-year-old Naveed Shah­wani — were among the deceased. Both were travelling in the vehicle.

Police and Frontier Corps officers rushed to the blast site and shifted the bodies and injured to the district hospital in Khuzdar.

“We have received two bodies and seven injured,” hospital officials confirmed, adding that the deceased received fatal injuries. At least three of the injured were in critical condition and were shifted to Quetta for treatment.

Naveed Shahwani recently passed out of the Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences and was waiting for the convocation. He was among the position holders.

Mr Shahwani was working with Haji Amanullah, a leading businessman running a solar panel installation business in Khuzdar.

The injured were identified as Abdullah Zehri, Ali Ahmed, Shahzeb Ahmed, Sharifuddin, Mumtaz Ahmed, Imran Khan and Mohammad Hanif.

Security forces have launched a search operation in and around the town of Khuzdar to trace out the culprits. No person or group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo and Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove strongly condemned the bomb attack and expressed sorrow over the deaths and injuries.

In separate statements, they expressed grief over the demise of Abdul Wahid Shahwani’s son and said that the elements behind the explosion would soon be brought to justice.

Since the government’s talks with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan broke down in November, the militant group has intensified its attacks, mainly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan. Insurgents in Balochistan have also stepped up violent activities.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2023